Twisted
by ShadowKissed-Deni
Summary: Dimitri is still a dhampir. Rose has finally achieved her dream, guarding Lissa for the rest of her life. But as time goes by, relationships begin to fall apart, and new ones are formed. How twisted can Rose's social life get?
1. Problem after problem

**I hope you like this new story!**

**It's less action more... romance... i guess... so it's like a break from 'We can make this work, right?' which is more of action... i think? lol**

**DISCLAIMER: Characters etc. belong to Richelle Mead. Except for this little story here!**

**-Deni**

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"Ok Lissa." I said to her as I exited the room for her privacy. I leaned against the wall and sighed. Christian nodded at me and went inside Lissa's room.

I was finally a guardian, but not just any guardian. Lissa's guardian.

Christian wasn't in Lissa's room for their usual 'us' time, but for something important that Lissa had to tell him, but I didn't know about it.

I looked to my right side. Dimitri was standing there and looked at me.

"How are you Rose?" He asked. He was my partner. Well not my _partner_ in relationship terms but as in guarding Lissa. We had never told anyone about us. I was 18 already but, after the huge Strigoi attack at the school, Dimitri was having second thoughts. We were still kinda together but we hadn't gone public yet. I was disappointed at that.

"Oh, fine I guess." I replied looking away from him.

"You guess? So you don't know?" He asked me, but I was still looking away. I stayed silent.

"Tell me what's wrong my Roza." He asked me pleadingly. I finally looked at him.

"Tell you what's wrong? You know what's wrong Dimitri! We haven't told anyone about us yet! I'm not even sure that you _want_ me anymore!" I lashed out at him. He looked hurt and looked away. It was true though, we had grown farther apart ever since the Strigoi attack, it seemed like he was trying to avoid me, but he eventually had to stop after I graduated. He was now stuck with me because of Guardian purposes no matter what.

"Of course I still want you Roza!" He finally said after a long pause. I felt tears building up in my eyes.

"You had to think about it. You don't mean it!" I shouted at him, which hurt me as much as it hurt him. Actually, I figured that it hurt me more.

"I do mean it!" He shouted back, and he tried to prove it by walking towards me and holding me in his arms. I pushed him away. He had a face full of hurt.

"No you don't!" I screamed at him. He walked back still looking hurt, towards his post.

"What happened to us Dimitri? Ever since the Strigoi attack… you've been so… distant." I pointed out to him.

"This is not the time and place to talk about that Roza." He said while putting on his guardian mask. He looked away from me and was standing up straight.

"Don't call me that." I said sounding more serious. A look of astonishment and hurt crossed his face, but his guardian mask came back almost straight away. I had never told him not to call me Roza. He glanced at me for a brief moment. I looked away.

We stood there in silence, until we heard something crash inside Lissa's room. Dimitri and I were about to knock the door down, but Christian came out and flung the door towards us. We almost fell backwards.

"What happened Christian?" I asked him. He ignored me and walked away. He looked oddly pissed off.

The door was still open and I walked inside. I turned back around and looked at Dimitri who was behind me.

"Could you please stay out here?" I asked him, sounding more calm.

"Is Lissa ok?" He asked me back.

"I don't know. But I'll handle it. Don't worry." I replied. He nodded reluctantly.

"Thankyou Guardian Belikov." I told him before closing the door in his face. I didn't care to see his reaction. I was sure that he didn't want me anymore. My heart was broken.

I looked around the room. Lissa was on her bed, crying her eyes out. There was a shattered vase with flowers pouring out of it on the floor. I walked around it and sat by her side.

"What happened Lissa?" I asked her, with so much worry in my voice. It was so odd for Christian to just storm off like that.

"Christian broke up with me." She let out with a sob. My jaw dropped. How could he break up with her? They were perfect together, almost too perfect!

"What? Why?" I asked her while putting my hand on her face to gently turn her head to look at me.

"I… I'm… pregnant." Lissa finally admitted. My jaw dropped even more. This couldn't be happening. I checked the bond. She wasn't lying, at all.

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**Christian broke up with Lissa!!! *Gasp***

**Haha... did you love it, hate it?**

**Let me know in a review and i will update swiftly!!!**


	2. Figure that out

**Thankyou for all the lovely reviews everyone!**

**I hope you like this chapter as well...**

**DISCLAIMER: Characters etc. belong to Richelle Mead. Except for this little story here!**

**-Deni**

* * *

"Oh Liss…" I cradled her in my arms and rocked her side to side slowly, trying to soothe her as she drenched my shirt.

She kept crying for a couple of minutes but suddenly it seemed like she was choking on something. Before I could ask her what was wrong she jumped out of my arms and ran into the bathroom. I followed her and found her leaning over the toilet bowl. She had morning sickness and was making some pretty gross sounds. I went over to her and stroked her back.

"Rose, thankyou for being here for me, unlike… him." She said quickly before puking again.

"Lissa there's no problem; I'll always be here for you no matter what. Christian's just… an idiot, he's probably just as freaked out as you were when you found out. Speaking of which, how far along are you?"

"3 weeks." She admitted.

"3 weeks! How come you didn't tell me?" I questioned her.

"I only found out 2 days ago when I went to the clinic. I was suffering morning sickness and I thought it was just period pain or something, but it got worse so I went to see Dr Olendzki. But don't worry Rose, she promised to keep it a secret."

"But are you sure we can trust her?" I wasn't sure if we could trust Dr Olendzki, even though she had helped me many times, I always thought that there was something eerie about her.

"Yes Rose. I helped out a lot during the huge Strigoi attack and so she said it was the way she could finally repay me." Some payment, I thought sarcastically.

"Rose, seriously. We can trust her." She said half laughing, half talking seriously.

"How could you tell what I was thinking? Is the bond working both ways now?" I asked curiously. I had always wondered what it would be like if Lissa stepped into my shoes for a change.

"No Rose. I can see it on your face." She laughed. She had stopped vomiting, for the moment.

"I'll go get you some water." I told her and she nodded and took a few deep breaths.

I went and took a cup from the kitchen rack full of clean sparkly dishes. Amazingly, I was the one who made them all sparkly. As I was filling the cup up with tap water, I looked around the room, it really payed off to live in the Royal Court. Lissa's room was enormous with a high ceiling with an expensive and highly detailed chandelier. It also had a big kitchen with black marble bench tops, amber hardwood flooring, cream coloured walls, maroon curtains which covered tall windows showing a beautiful garden just outside, and plush, tasteful and expensive looking furniture at its finest. The Royals really had it all.

Then I felt water overflowing in my hand. I quickly turned off the tap and tipped some water into the sink from the top of the glass cup.

I headed back to the bathroom and Lissa had fallen asleep on the tile floor leaning on the shower wall which was next to the toilet. Even the bathroom was magnificent, the tile floor had an assortment of colours in a pattern, the shower was huge and also had a handheld showerhead, and even the toilet looked grand!

I went outside the bathroom and put Lissa's cup of water on her bedside table. Then I went back to the bathroom and gently lifted Lissa off the tile floor. She must've been really out of it, she looked exhausted. I carried her in my arms and laid her on her comfortable bed. Her bed's quilt was a gold colour with a black flower pattern going around the edges. The bed sheets were white and smelt of fresh linen.

"I'll go and clean up the broken vase and flowers. What happened here?" I walked over to a cupboard and pulled out a broom and dust pan.

"Well, I called Christian here to tell him about the pregnancy… but then he broke up with me. I don't know why…" She started to sob again.

"He's probably confused right now. He'll come back."

"I don't know Rose. Anyway, then I threw the flowers and vase at him… silly I know… cause I missed." She chuckled a bit but I knew that she didn't really find this situation funny at all. I didn't know what else to say, I just nodded in reply. I cleaned up the broken vase and flowers and threw them in the bin. I put the broom and dust pan back into the cupboard. I looked at the clock, it was 6 am already. The Moroi were preparing to go to bed. It was my opportunity to find that idiot and unleash my wrath on _him_.

"Liss?" I asked her quietly as I leaned towards her face.

"Mmm?" She moaned sleepily.

"I need to go take care of a few… things. I'll be gone for a little while. I hope you don't mind." I whispered into her ear.

"Mmmm… ok." She yawned and rolled over to the other side. I couldn't help but smile from seeing my best friend so relaxed and sleepy. It was so cute.

I creaked open the door slowly and looked back at her. She was down for the night. I walked through the door and found Dimitri on the outside at his post.

"Listen Rose…" He started.

"Drop it." I snapped back harshly. I _so_ did not want to talk to him right now. I already had another nuisance to deal with.

I ignored him and stormed off to another room in the 'Royals' section of the court. Christian's room. I kicked the door, but not hard enough to break it down.

"Get out here Christian!" I shouted through the door. I wasn't sure if he was there, but I might as well have checked.

"Go away!" He shouted back. He wasn't all too bright; he just led me straight to him.

"Open this door or I will kick it down!" I shouted even louder. I didn't bother to check if anyone had heard me. Either way I would have been in trouble... from causing a racket in the hall, or from having Moroi blood on my hands.

He opened the door slowly and sheepishly.

"Come on fire boy! I don't have all day!" I said so furious that he looked terrified. He closed the door slightly, leaving a small gap for us to communicate. He was probably trying to protect himself, but we both knew that the door couldn't stop me.

"Wha-What do you want?" His voice went all over the place. He cleared his throat, embarrassed by how he sounded.

"You know what! How could you break up with her! How could you break her heart like that you… you…" My mind was whizzing all over the place looking for something that would hurt him. I wanted to hurt him. But of course I couldn't hurt him physically, otherwise I would've been fired and Lissa would have been taken away from me.

"You Strigoi wannabe." I said with my voice icy like the wind outside. Anger filled his face and he opened the door wide. I knew it would offend him, because we both knew that he wasn't one, yet others thought differently.

"You don't know _anything_ Rose." He snapped back with his anger showing in his voice. Wow, I made him even more pissed…

Good.

"Why did you do it? Huh? Is it because you're a coward? Or are you just another jerk like Jesse who would bail if he found out that he knocked up his girlfriend? Huh? Huh!?!?" I shouted at him, angrier this time with my smartass self appearing. I felt so much rage towards him. He broke Lissa's heart and in a way, he broke mine too. I did not deal all too well with heartbreak, especially when an extra load was added on which had a name called 'Dimitri'.

"You don't get it Rose!" He wailed back.

"Oh I think I do! In fact, I thought I had you all figured out, you and Lissa were perfect togeth-"

He cut me off, out of the blue, by doing the most unexpected thing.

He kissed me.

I froze. What the hell was going on? He pulled away quickly before I could push him off.

"Figure that out." He said as the anger was replaced with a cheeky grin.

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**lol If i must say so myself, i love Christian with the whole 'Figure that out' thing. **

**It's like so... bad boy-like or whatever. ;)**

**I hoped you liked it as well!**

**Please review!!!**

**And please no flames about the relationships etc. because this story is called 'Twisted' after all... so expect a rollercoaster.**

**:)**


	3. Why God, why?

**I'm so happy that so many of you liked the previous chapter! I hope to God that you'll like this too.**

**:)**

**DISCLAIMER: Characters etc. belong to Richelle Mead. Except for this little story here!**

**-Deni**

* * *

What the hell did he just do? The anger I felt inside of me was slightly replaced by a wave of confusion but it was still there. When he kissed me, it was like when I was pulled into Lissa's head during their 'us' time, which I very much did not enjoy, but this time, he _was_ really kissing _me_.

"What the hell Christian?" Was all I managed to say. After all, what could you say, when your best friend's ex just kissed you?

"Rose, Rose, Rose…" He said while shaking his head sideways like saying 'Typical' which annoyed me even more.

"Let me in." I said straight to his face, staring him in those blue eyes of his. He just stared back in the way that he used to stare at Lissa, I was taken aback. It was the look of absolute affection.

"Wow. I wasn't sure if you felt the same way, but now I know because what you're doing is pretty clear to me." He said acting surprised and winked.

"No! You dumbass! Ugh! Just let me in!" I shouted really loudly and it seemed like he jumped 5 feet in the air.

He reluctantly opened the door while considering the fact that I was probably going to beat him to a pulp. He was definitely brave. He closed the door after I entered, which was probably the biggest mistake of his life.

He turned towards me. I wanted to forget about the kiss and just get what I came for over with. The argument was beginning.

"Christian! Explain to me why you broke up with Lissa! You can't just leave her like that, as a single mother with _your_ child!"

"Well… um…" He said while scratching his head like he was thinking. Oh please.

"Spit it out fool!" I felt like Mr T. saying that…

"Ok… ok. Well I was thinking about Lissa and our relationship before she told me about…you know… and I was thinking that I might have… fallen out of love with her… Please don't kill me." He said while sitting on his bed. I was standing in front of him.

"How can you fall out of love with her?" I retorted. Then it hit me. It was like how Dimitri had felt with me. Something in the pit of my stomach twisted at the thought of him not loving me anymore. I realised that I had forgotten about Dimitri momentarily as I was about to kill Christian.

"I realised that my heart had been taken by another." Christian admitted. Oh no.

"Who is this bitch?" I already knew who it was…but I just had to ask.

"Um… you?" He said, like it was the most obvious thing, and it was.

"Oh crap." Since I was standing the entire time, my knees began to feel weak from the shock so I stumbled over and sat next to Christian.

"What now?" He asked me, like he was expecting me to punch him, or something, but I just sat there in shock.

I finally looked at him and realised that he was shirtless and was only wearing some black pyjama pants on, plus we were both sitting on his bed, side by side.

"Hey. Don't get any ideas. If you even try to act on them, I will make sure that you can't have any more children. Got that?" I threatened him. He just… laughed.

"Rose! See why we're perfect together? We made a perfect team fighting Strigoi, so why can't we make a perfect couple as well?"

"You're heartless Christian. Do you even care about your child?" I couldn't believe what he was doing. He looked like he had forgotten about his child and then remembered at that very moment. He paled. We stayed there in an awkward silence as I was registering everything that was wrong in my life. I didn't know what he was doing though.

Then there was a knock on the door. Thank God.

I opened the door before Christian got up. Dimitri was standing in front of me. Why God why?

"Lissa wants you Rose." He said in his guardian tone, which made me annoyed again.

"How did you know where I was? Did you follow me and leave your post?" If he did, we would've been in trouble because at least one of us had to stay with Lissa, unless we both had her permission.

"I got permission from Lissa and... I know you Rose. I knew you were going to go after Christian. Am I too late? Or do I need to help you bury the body, because you know I won't." His voice became normal as he tried to joke. I didn't laugh; I was too mixed up in negative emotions.

"He's fine. We just chatted. That's all." I said as I walked past Dimitri and headed back towards Lissa's room. I kind of ran there and didn't look back. I didn't want to see either of those men, boys, or males, whatever. Why was I having so much trouble with the opposite gender?

"What is it Liss?" I said while pushing her door open, trying to act or sound as calm as possible. I didn't want her to know what I had just been doing.

"I have some exciting news." She said as she sat up slowly in bed.

"What?" It probably wasn't as exciting as what I had just found out, but I was still curious.

"I called Queen Tatiana and she said yes to my plans for tomorrow." She said sounding more excited.

"What plans?" I was getting more curious.

"We're going shopping!" As she said that, actually more like shouted, my hopes were shooting up high! If anything could calm me down, it was my favourite sport, shopping.

"Dimitri and Adrian are coming as well." She said all of a sudden. My hopes plummeted. I had hoped that it could just be the two of us on a shopping adventure like old times, but it was obviously too dangerous.

"Ok." I replied and nodded. She smiled back and fell back into bed.

"So you called the Queen just then?" I asked suddenly realising how late it was, well late in Moroi times.

"Ya… I don't think she sleeps." She admitted when she was lying on her side with her back to me. I shivered.

"Makes her creepier. Oh hey, maybe that's what makes her such a cold cranky old bitc-"

There was a knock at the door. God didn't anyone sleep?

It was Dimitri.

I walked out of Lissa's room and closed the door behind me. The place was empty with just the two of us. It was like a huge hallway extending in just about every direction and had pillars supporting the rest of the building's floors above.

Out of nowhere Dimitri turned me around and kissed me. But it wasn't passionately like he used to kiss me, it was more, forced. It had no emotion in it. I felt even more heartbroken and pushed him away. I didn't get it, after everything we'd been through, why was he acting like this?

"What do you want Dimitri? Right now, you're so moody and you're making me confused… and… and… just get lost." I said as I swallowed back my tears and turned away from him without looking up at his face. I opened Lissa's door and went inside.

He didn't stop me. He didn't care anymore did he? The tears I had been holding back came out when I closed the door behind me and went into my own private room separate from Lissa's room. I closed my own door and sank to the ground with my back against it.

Today was the weirdest day this week, and it was only the start. It had also been the end of the day when all the strange things happened and I was exhausted.

I didn't need my tears to make me more exhausted. I got up from the floor and told myself to stop and lock my emotions away for a while. Or maybe just for tomorrow.

I took a shower which slightly relieved me of my physical and emotional pain. I went to bed and pulled the covers over me. My room was less luxurious than Lissa's but it was still nice. Everything was smaller and plain but it was enough for me.

I kept thinking about what had happened this night. Dimitri sort of admitted, or showed me that he didn't care about me anymore, Lissa was pregnant and Christian confessed his unrequited love for me. I hoped that tomorrow would be a better day, but my doubt was stronger. The shopping trip was supposed to be fun, but with the men accompanying us, it would be close to torture.

As I drifted off to sleep I felt one tear slip from my left eye, falling down my cheek slowly, onto the pillow.

Tomorrow had to be a better day. It had to.

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**Review please!**

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	4. I was too late

**Thanyou all for all the nice reviews!**

**Keep em' coming!**

**:)**

**DISCLAIMER: Characters etc. belong to Richelle Mead. Except for this little story here!**

**-Deni**

* * *

I was woken up by a knock at the door. I slept the entire day, but I somehow felt odd. Maybe it was because my face was covered in dried up tears. Thank goodness that the town outside of the Royal Court ran until really late. Late night shopping hours, you've gotta love them.

I jumped out of bed and walked to the door slowly. Whoever it was, whatever they were going to say, it had to be important or else.

"Rose, are you ready to go to the mall?" Adrian said as I opened the door. He looked me up and down, who someone normal would've found flattering, but I was feeling too weird to even care.

"I guess not." He finished, and then he smiled. His words sank in. I had forgotten to set my alarm clock and I was running late for my shopping trip with Lissa. Why didn't she wake me up? Crap!

"Hang on; I'll be down in a few minutes." I told him and he nodded.

I closed the door quickly and literally threw my closet door open and searched for something to wear. I finally settled with a red tank top and grey tracksuit pants. I didn't really need to dress fashionably like I used to, after all I was still on duty. Dimitri and I had to take care of Lissa as well as Adrian. Why did he have to tag along? He had moved to the Royal court just like us so he could still study with Lissa about Spirit. His own guardians had gone off on a mission that his aunt sent them on and somehow he convinced her that Dimitri and I were enough protection. Even though 'Queen Hag' agreed I knew that she would have doubt, even when Dimitri and I had proved ourselves during the Strigoi attack at St. Vladimir's. Although, I guessed that there were probably other reasons as to why he wanted to tag along with us.

Some staff members from St. Vladimir's left to work at the Royal Court, when we graduated, so that was why Dr Olendzki was here. Alberta had come along as well because it seemed as though the Royal Court was becoming slightly short staffed. That was worrying.

I put on my clothes and grabbed my hairbrush. I started combing it and was about to tie it up in a bun, when I remembered that that was how Dimitri liked my hair. I changed my mind and tied my hair into a ponytail instead. I put on a long coat like the one Dimitri always wore and put my stake in one of the big pockets. I ran to my small bathroom and washed my tear covered face. The cool water really woke me up. I wiped my face with a towel and looked at my reflection. It was nothing special, same old Rose.

I opened the door and walked into Lissa's room. Her bed was made up and I was slightly annoyed as to why she didn't wake me up. I opened the main door and looked sideways. No-one was around; the Royal Court was so huge that it felt like you were always alone. I took an elevator down to the main floor and found Adrian waiting patiently.

"There you are little dhampir." He said as a grin was spreading from one side of his face to the other.

"Where's Lissa?" I asked him.

"Everyone else is in the car." He said with the smile still on his face.

"Alright, let's go. Thanks for waiting." I said politely. He was the only one waiting for me and I thought that it was nice of him to do so.

"Anytime, I always will." He replied. Somehow, I felt that there was a hidden meaning to that, but I refused to believe it.

We walked through the big doors of the main floor and outside into the fresh air. The sun had just set and there was a huge black van in front of us. The back door opened and Lissa smiled at me.

"Sorry Liss. I have to sit at the front. Don't forget that I'm on duty." I reminded her. She nodded looking disappointed. Adrian got in and sat in the back with her.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I turned back around and asked her.

"Oh… I thought you were too exhausted yesterday, so I let you sleep in."

"Lissa, you are the best friend I could ever have." She smiled at my compliment. My annoyance was gone as I figured that I didn't cause much trouble. We weren't really rushing anyway.

I opened the front door and sat in the passenger seat next to Dimitri. He looked as uncomfortable as I was. There was a tinted glass wall behind our seats which gave Adrian and Lissa privacy, as well as us. It was pretty much sound proofed.

So I knew what was coming next. The talk.

"Rose, listen to me." He said, while I just looked at him lazily.

"I know ever since the Strigoi attack, I've been… distant and I want you to know that it's only for your benefit." He said while starting up the engine. My benefit? How was that possible? I couldn't contain myself any longer.

"My benefit? How is that beneficial Dimitri? Please enlighten me comrade." I folded my arms to try and show that I was clearly enraged but he was focusing on the road.

"Well, I figured that you would be safer if we weren't together, because I realised during the Strigoi attack, that our relationship was beyond risky. We would've done anything to save each other, not the Moroi." He was right, I admitted in my mind. Dimitri had pointed this out to me before and he tried executing our plan to be together just after the Strigoi attack. He tried to get reassigned to someone else, but the council refused Dimitri's request stating that 'they could not risk the last Dragomir's life'. He was one of the best guardians I had known, so he had to stay with Lissa.

"I know that… but, what I'm banging on about is that… well…. Have you stopped loving me?" It hurt me so much to finally ask the question that was eating me up inside. He didn't reply. I thought I felt my heart deflate a little. In the process of pushing me away, he must've pushed his heart as well.

"Oh…" Was all I could say. My heart was seriously and definitely broken now. It was too late, to save what we had. I was too late.

"No Rose… its not-"

"It's fine Dimitri. I get it." I cut him off. Before he could say another word, I jumped out of the car. We had arrived.

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**I hope you liked it!**

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	5. What do you think?

**Sorry for the wait! Well i hope this was worth it! lol**

**DISCLAIMER: Characters etc. belong to Richelle Mead. Except for this little story here!**

**-Deni**

* * *

How could he not love me anymore? The news was hard to take and I was feeling weak as we all walked towards the shopping centre's entrance. Who knew that emotional pain could actually cause you physical pain as well?

I did. I was feeling it right now. _Pain_.

I had to try and lock my feelings away though; I promised myself that I would. I felt that Lissa could sense that something was wrong but she kept quiet, she really was the best friend that I could ever have. We all arrived at the huge main doors of the building. They were made of glass and were way above our heads. I looked at our surroundings outside and everything seemed to be fine. We walked through the doors as they automatically opened.

We were greeted by a giant interior with all different kinds of stores lining the walls. I could tell Lissa was excited, and I would've been too, if it weren't for my depressing mood.

"Rose! Look at all those clothing stores!" She jumped up and down clapping her hands. I tried to hide my sorrow by smiling, and luckily she didn't see through it.

But one person did.

"Excuse me Rose, will you come with me to look at those CDs?" Adrian asked me while pointing at a store a good amount of metres away. If anyone could see through my pretending it was him, how did he know me so well?

I nodded and walked with him while Dimitri stayed with Lissa at a clothing store. I saw Dimitri briefly glance at us walking away but I ignored him.

We reached the music store and there were stacks of CDs everywhere on shelves. Adrian looked back from where we came from, like he was checking if they could hear what we were saying. Oh brother, I knew what was coming.

"Ok Rose. Spill it." He said while crossing his arms.

"Spill what? I don't have any form of liquid on me to spill." I said acting confused.

"You know what I mean. I know it has something to do with Belikov. You weren't acting like this before we got into the car. Please Rose. What did he do to you?" He looked so concerned that it made me feel like I was going to burst at any second.

"Adrian it's nothing. Don't worry about me."

"Well I can't help it. I care about you Rose. When you're unhappy, I'm unhappy."

"Don't worry about me." I repeated while putting my hand on his tense shoulder. He relaxed and sighed from my touch. I was surprised that it had such an effect on him.

"Okay little dhampir… but just remember that I'll always be here for you." He said while taking my hand off his shoulder and putting headphones in my hand.

"Maybe some music will cheer you up." He said brightly as he pressed play on the little machine attached to the wall. I put the headphones on my head and listened to what was playing.

_If you change your mind_

_I'm the first in line_

_Honey I'm still free_

_Take a chance on me_

How ironic. ABBA's 'Take a chance on me' seemed like the perfect song for Adrian to sing to me. I knew that he liked me, but he never really tried anything because he knew about me and Dimitri. But since Dimitri seemed out of the picture, maybe momentarily, maybe not, what would happen now?

_If you need me let me know_

_Gonna be around_

_If you've got no place to go_

_If you're feeling down_

_If you're all alone_

_When the pretty birds have flown_

_Honey I'm still free_

_Take a chance on me_

_Gonna do my very best and it ain't no lie_

_If you put me to the test_

_If you let me try_

It was such an uplifting song; I couldn't help but let a smile appear on my face. Adrian seemed to notice and he stopped the song.

"Told you that it would cheer you up." He said while taking my headphones as I gave them to him.

"Thankyou Adrian." He really did cheer me up a bit; I didn't have to fight as hard to keep my sorrow locked away, until we turned around and I saw _him_ again.

Dimitri was with Lissa in a clothing store just next to the one that they were in before. She was showing him some dresses… wait dresses? Why did Lissa need to buy dresses? I didn't recall anything about a special occasion.

"Why is Lissa looking for a new dress?" I asked aloud, not realising until Adrian answered.

"There's a royal function coming up. It's kind of a ball."

"I guess you have to go too, huh?" I said, turning back to face him. The question had such an obvious answer, but I couldn't think straight after seeing Dimitri again.

"Yes and I was wondering… would you like to accompany me to this ball little dhampir? I'd be honoured to have you as my… date." He said sounding slightly nervous which I thought was odd. Wasn't he used to asking girls out? I thought that he probably had plenty of practice. His words sank in. I snapped back into reality and shook my head frantically like I was dizzy.

"Um… sorry Adrian… but I can't." I couldn't, could I? I wasn't sure if I could let anyone else in after Dimitri. After all, I thought that Dimitri and I were going to make it through, but we didn't. Adrian was clearly disappointed and sighed. He didn't push me for my acceptance or anything; he simply walked back to Lissa and Dimitri. I followed and Lissa seemed really excited.

"Rose! Rose! Rose! Look at this dress!" She came out to me and was wearing a dress that suited her perfectly. It was a strapless white dress with a black belt emphasising her waist which then trailed down in ruffles. It wasn't too long and it wasn't too short. It made her look very classy, like a proper Royal which she now was.

"So what do you think?" She asked all of us.

"It's beautiful Liss. You'll look wonderful at the ball." I said honestly. I was sure that most eyes would be on her.

"It's lovely Princess." Dimitri said in his guardian tone. Ugh.

"It looks perfect for the occasion." Adrian said with a fake smile, but she didn't notice.

"Good! I'll take it!" She almost screamed with joy.

It seemed as though Lissa was the only one who was in a positive mood. She led the rest of us to all sorts of stores. I helped her pick out a few things, but I mainly had to keep watch. I was still on duty and I couldn't forget that.

We were in a change room while the guys were waiting outside. Lissa was trying on another dress and her excuse was that she wanted to have the next big thing before anyone else, so that meant lots of exploring.

"When do you want to tell them?" I didn't specifically say what, but she understood me.

"I don't know. When the time is right I guess. The only people who know so far are Dr Olendzki, you and… Christian." I could tell she felt pain saying Christian's name.

"Don't worry… he'll come running back for forgiveness." I half joked. I actually hoped so; I didn't want Christian to be hopelessly devoted to me.

"I've been thinking Rose." She said sounding more serious.

"No kidding." I added sarcastically. She laughed.

"Whether Christian comes back or not, my child needs a father." She said sounding serious again. I wasn't sure where she was going.

"You're right… but your child will always have me as well… Aunty Rose." I said while pointing at myself. She laughed again.

"Liss, it could be tough being a single mother at first, but I know that you can make it through. You're strong."

"Thanks Rose… but… what good is it, feeling strong if I don't feel complete? I need a man in my life Rose. I need love. My child needs love." She had a point there.

"Well… then what do you suggest?" I asked politely.

"Actually it's a 'who' that I'm suggesting…" She said sounding more nervous than serious now.

"Oh… Lissa… you've set your eye on a man! Who is the lucky guy?" I was getting excited despite all the depression I was feeling earlier.

"Dimitri." She admitted and blushed.

"D-D-Di-Dimitri?!?!" I almost shouted, shocked to the core.

"So what do you think?" she asked while taking off the clothing she was trying on and putting on her normal clothes. What did I think? Oh… if she knew, she wouldn't want to know.

* * *

**Haha it gets even more Twisted!!!**

**:P**

**There's a link on my profile of Lissa's dress. Check it out! I'm not that into fashion but i thought that the dress was nice... so um.. ya... let me know what you think about the dress!**

**REVIEW PLEASE!!!**

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	6. Everything was wrong

**Thanks for the reviews guys!**

**Sorry if i angered some of you with a big shocker at the end of the previous chapter, but don't forget that this rollercoaster has not ended yet. It's far from the end.**

**:)**

**DISCLAIMER: Characters etc. belong to Richelle mead. Except for this little story here!**

**-Deni**

* * *

I stared at her with my mouth almost falling to the floor. This was wrong, it was just all wrong. She picked up the clothes she was going to buy and turned back to look at me. I quickly closed my mouth before she could see how surprised I was.

"So… what do you think?" She asked again. I didn't know what I thought. I was feeling all sorts of emotions, hurt, betrayal, anger… but I couldn't take them out on her. She was my best friend, but not only that, she was my charge. I clenched my fists and took a deep breath.

"Well… why Dimitri?" I asked her, not looking into her eyes.

"I've just… you know… I've always thought that he was attractive." She said sounding embarrassed. That caught my attention; I looked at her and saw that she was smiling. I felt like wiping that smile off her face, but no, all that that would do is raise more questions. Lissa hadn't known about Dimitri and me anyway, so I couldn't blame her. I sighed. I had to try and hide my true feelings about all this.

"I think that you and Dimitri will be good together." I lied, but she couldn't see through it.

"Goody! I'm going to ask him to come with me to the ball!" She opened the change room door and I followed behind her.

"Funny thing is that Adrian asked me." I said, trying to strike up a new conversation.

"So what did you say?" She gave the clothes to the cashier and took out her wallet.

"I told him no. I'm on duty Lissa."

"But you can get off of it! I'll ask the Queen! He could ask the Queen!" She said turning to look at me.

"No, it's fine. Your safety is more important than me dancing around with Adrian." Well, that was a small part of the reason why I didn't want to go. The other part was because, I wasn't ready for a man in my life, and it would take time for me to heal from the wound in my heart. I literally felt like there was a hole inside of me, like some sort of tightness in my chest that made me feel like I couldn't breathe.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned around. My eyes met emerald ones, hurt emerald ones. He must've heard what I had said and I felt a pang of regret.

"Are you ready?" He asked Lissa and me. I could tell that he was having some difficulty with looking at me and that made my heart ache a little more.

She nodded and I looked away from Adrian, only to meet the eyes of a certain Russian. He looked away and I briefly saw Lissa running to his side before I looked down at the ground, ashamed.

"Hi Dimitri." I heard Lissa say.

"What is it princess?" Dimitri replied.

"I was wondering… would you like to be my date for the ball?" She asked anxiously. I didn't dare to look up and I didn't want to hear what his reply was so I turned around and covered my ears with my hands. But I still heard a muffled 'Ok princess'.

I could feel a tear running down my cheek and I quickly wiped it away with my hand. I looked up at the cashier and took Lissa's bag of clothes while faking a smile. I turned back around and walked towards the rest of our group. Adrian was walking beside me, but he didn't say a word. I would've moped around, but moping couldn't get me anywhere anyway, and I had to stay alert.

We walked back to the car in silence. I doubted that anyone besides Lissa wanted to talk. However she kept quiet.

The car ride was as awkward as ever. No one said anything, and the radio was turned off. The silence was somehow peaceful though, but if you looked at my entire situation, it was nothing close to peaceful.

We were back at the Royal Court and we all got out of the car.

"Back at the court at last! Wasn't that fun guys?" Lissa finally broke the awkward but somehow peaceful silence.

"I guess so." But what I really wanted to say was 'Yeah, for you it was.'

We all went our separate ways and Lissa and I were walking back to our rooms.

"So what was that about?" She asked me along the way.

"What?" I knew what she meant but I acted like I didn't know anyway.

"The silence in the car Rose, I'm your best friend, you can tell me." Well I wondered if she was going to stay my best friend if she and Dimitri really hit it off.

"Oh it was nothing... I just wanted to think." Which I did, but it led me to more confusion. She gave me a worried look before fidgeting with her keys and opening our door.

"By the way, where did Dimitri go?" She asked me and immediately brightened when she said his name.

"Oh… um… he went to get something to eat." I didn't want to talk about him anymore.

"So when exactly is this ball?" I asked her curiously. I wanted to know how long the wait was until I could see if I could get over Dimitri once and for all. Dimitri could move on with Lissa while I watched from the sidelines. It would be painful, but I had to be tough. I had to be Rose Hathaway.

"The day after tomorrow."

"Oh… no wonder you were in such a hurry to buy some new clothes." I said, trying to make her laugh, it worked.

"I only wish that you could join me on this evening Rose." She said as she put her bags next to a chair.

"I'll still be there though, just not enjoying it with _you _there._"_ I said while putting my bags next to hers. There was a little bit of a double meaning there but she didn't seem to notice.

"Ok Rose. Well it's your choice." She said and then went into the bathroom.

The next day passed by quickly with me guarding the door outside Lissa's room for a few hours. Then I went into her room while Dimitri took my spot. We didn't even look at each other. Lissa was asking me about what accessories would match her dress and how she should do her hair and everything. Then it was my shift again to guard the outside with Dimitri. He seemed like he was about to say something but he stopped himself, several times. It was a pretty boring day.

At last, the day of the ball came. I woke up and went out my room to find Lissa already putting on her normal clothes while I was still in pyjamas.

"Good morning. I see you're up and early." I said while rubbing my eyes sleepily.

"Oh, I just can't wait to see Dimitri at the buffet." The Royal court didn't have shops but they had a morning buffet in the main hall which was pretty nice with food and feeders. They also had lunch and dinner services. We didn't use our kitchen that much, so we went to the buffet regularly.

"So it's your first date?" I asked not being able to look at her.

"Well not really, he's just guarding me as I go to the feeders. So you can sleep in if you want."

"No thanks." I was pretty sure that I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep, knowing what they could be doing, flirting probably.

"Ok. Well I'll be back." She left the room.

I needed to wake myself up. I went back into my room and went to the bathroom to wash my face. I looked into the mirror and noticed that I had dark circles around my eyes. I had an almost sleepless night. I probably dozed off really late. I dried my face and looked at the clock. Lissa and I had a couple of hours before we went to the ball. The ball was going to be held in the Royal court's own ballroom. This building really almost had it all.

I went outside and pulled out my make-up bag from a small drawer in my mahogany bedside table. I didn't use make-up a lot now, but only if I needed to cover something up, like my dark circles.

I took out some foundation and powder and dabbed them around my eyes. Done, my eyes looked normal.

I went to my closet and pulled out a blue tank top and black tracksuit pants. I didn't need fashionable clothes to be happy like Lissa, I needed comfort, and I _really_ needed it now. I put on my long coat and put my stake that was on my bedside table, into one of my large pockets.

Lissa still wasn't back yet. I went into her room and closed my door behind me. She had a big balcony and it was almost pitch black outside. I opened the glass door and stepped onto it. The fresh air hit me and I shuddered. The ice cold wind was sharp but calming. I closed the door behind me and put my hands onto the railing. I inhaled some deep breaths, calming myself further. I had to work today, while watching the man I loved, dancing with my charge that was also my best friend, and I couldn't do a thing. Just great.

Then I heard the door open behind me and figured it was Lissa. I didn't bother to look, but then I wished that I did. Two arms wrapped around my waist, arms bigger than Lissa's.

"Aren't you cold out here Rose?" It was Christian. Then it hit me. He still had the keys to Lissa's room.

"What are you doing?" I said while walking to the side and pushing his arms off.

"I'm just here to check if things are ok."

"Well they're not. First of all, why do you still have our keys?" He didn't answer.

"Give them to me. Now." I commanded. He gave in and reluctantly handed me the keys.

"That's a good fire boy." I praised him as a joke and he beamed.

"It all starts with cute nicknames." He said while winking, I instantly regretted my previous joke.

"What starts? Nothing is starting here Christian." I looked away from him and stared at the garden below us. The garden looked extraordinary under the moonlight.

"Actually, we started with a kiss." He said while leaning on the railing next to me. I moved further to the side.

"But that's it Christian. There is no 'we'." I said my voice bitter and stern. Before he could make a witty reply, there was a jingling coming from the door. The noise was someone finding the right key for the lock. Lissa was back.

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**I hope you liked it!**

**:)**

**REVIEWS ARE MORE THAN WELCOME!**


	7. Surprise, surprise

**I hope you like this one! **

**No flames please! All i can say right now, is that it gets more twisted, but like i've said before, the rollercoaster hasn't finished.**

**DISCLAIMER: Characters etc. belong to Richelle Mead. Except for this little story here!**

**-Deni**

* * *

Lissa was back from the buffet at the most inconvenient time. Christian instantly realised what was going on and he paled.

"Go to my room now and shut the door." I whispered to him frantically. He nodded and was too… scared to make a witty comment. Wait, scared? Scared of Lissa? Oh, this was good.

He disappeared into my bedroom just as Lissa opened the door. She put her keys back into her purse and looked up at me.

"Hey Liss." I said casually while shutting the glass door of the balcony.

"What were you doing?" She eyed me curiously.

"I just needed some fresh air." I walked towards her slowly.

"I thought I heard voices from the door." She put her purse down onto her bedside table.

"Oh… I was just thinking aloud… I guess."

"Different voices." She said, looking up at me again, with suspicion.

What could I say? That her ex was here hitting on me? No way. I opened my mouth to pull out anything that would calm her curiosity but before anything came out, we heard a knock on the door.

"Princess?" It was Dimitri. Lissa immediately darted to the door and opened it. I didn't want to watch them so I turned away.

"Yes Dimitri?" She asked in her flirtatious voice that she used to use on Christian. Oh my god. Christian. He was still here.

"You really didn't have to give me this." Dimitri said and then I heard the sounds of a plastic bag being moved, coming from him.

"No it's fine Dimitri! You'll wear it tonight at the ball. I can't take it back; I bought it especially for you." She said in the same flirtatious tone. She bought him a suit to wear? I didn't even notice it in any of the bags. She must've bought it and hid it when I wasn't looking. I turned around and Dimitri noticed my movement. It seemed like he didn't realise that I was there, like I was invisible. His eyes widened when I looked at him.

"Actually… princess… it's fine. Thankyou, I appreciate it very much." He said quickly looking away from me and back at Lissa.

"Call me Lissa." She said, not noticing that he even looked away.

"Ok… Lissa. Thankyou." He said before he walked back to his own room. Lissa got the Queen to give Dimitri the entire day off. I was given a break until the ball started, lucky Dimitri. Lissa closed the door and sighed.

"Isn't he _something_?" She said sighing and floating down to the floor with her back to the door.

"Yeah, he sure is." I said in a 'whatever' tone like I didn't care and crossed my arms, but she didn't notice, at all.

Then I remembered. Christian. He was in my room. Oh no. He must've heard everything. I looked at Lissa and she was putting her make-up set in order, so she could get ready for tonight. She sat down on a little chair in front of a table with a mirror attached to the back of it. I quickly went into my room and as I opened the door, wind hit me. The window was open and I heard a thump from outside. I ran to the window and just caught a glimpse of Christian running away into the lower building. We weren't too high up, so anyone could easily climb down from our windows. Christian looked hurt. He now knew that Lissa was with Dimitri. Maybe that meant that he still had feelings for Lissa? I could only hope.

I closed the window and quickly grabbed my hairbrush. I tied my hair into a ponytail, still remembering that Dimitri liked it in a bun. Maybe this was war? I walked out of my room.

"Are getting ready for the ball?" I asked Lissa as I walked to the main door.

"Yes. It's good to get a head start, isn't it?" She said while pinning up her hair so that it was out of her face so she could do her make-up.

"Ok, well I'll be back. I'm going to the buffet." I called before opening the door.

"Alright see you later." I heard before slamming the door, a bit too hard.

I walked down the hallway and past some rooms. But then I stopped hesitantly at Dimitri's door. I stared at it for a few moments, some part of me wanting to knock on the door and beg for Dimitri to take me back, some part of me wanting to kick it down and kick his butt for going out with my best friend. I did neither. I walked away and went to the elevator.

I was on the main floor now. There were several doors leading to all sorts of places. One was the door that led us to outside of our building, where we went through to go on that shopping trip the other day. Then there were doors that led to the buffet, gardens, tennis courts, the hall and the ballroom. But this was just one building in the entire Royal Court. The Royal Court was enormous with different buildings all over the grounds. It was like a huge enclosure. Queen Tatiana lived in a different building that was a lot bigger than mine and a lot grander. Mia also lived in a different building. She lived in the Royal Court now because she had to help her father with looking after one of the royal families.

I walked through the door and into the buffet. There were tables everywhere and food on benches where you could serve yourself. I just grabbed some toast with some jam and a bottle of apple juice. I sat down at a table by myself and began eating.

"Rose!" a female voice called out to me. I saw her straight away, her porcelain doll looks standing out from the crowd, and it was Mia. She sat down at the table opposite me and a tall figure who was her guardian sat beside her.

"Hey Eddie! How are you two?" It was nice seeing them both again. The last time we saw each other was several weeks ago at another royal party. Even though Mia had warmed up to Lissa and me, we didn't really hang out together. Mia wasn't a royal, but she was always allowed to attend because she helped at the Royal court, but she only came if she was invited.

"We're fine. Why are you by yourself?" Mia asked me.

"Ya, the Rose I know is normally the centre of attention." Eddie agreed.

"I'm just getting some breakfast. So Mia… who invited you this time?" I asked politely.

"You won't believe who did."

"I will… tell me." I gave her an encouraging smile.

"Adrian Ivashkov." She admitted and smiled the happiest smile I had ever seen on her. Eddie rolled his eyes.

"I know… it was completely out of the blue!" She spoke again. I couldn't say anything, I was speechless.

* * *

**Like i said... no flames or rants etc.!**

**:P**

**The pairings that i have made are not finalised!**

**Yet...**

**;)**

**REVIEW AWAY!!!**


	8. Getting ready

**Thankyou for the nice reviews once again!**

**But... i'm gonna make a little request here...**

**I'll only post the next chapter when i get 60 reviews.**

**I just need more time to update my other stories... lol**

**So get reviewing if you wanna find out what happens at the ball!**

**:)**

**DISCLAIMER: Characters etc. belong to Richelle mead. Except for this little story here!**

**-Deni**

* * *

I couldn't say a thing. Emotions that I couldn't recognise were taking over me. Why was I so affected by what was happening right now? Mia was going to the ball with Adrian, but I didn't care, right?

"Wow…" Was all I managed to say in this awkward situation.

"Ya I know!" Mia giggled. Eddie rolled his eyes again.

"Too bad we're on duty, eh Rose?" He said, catching my attention and I looked up at him.

"Ya… the ball… seems like… fun." I just pulled out anything to satisfy their need to communicate with me. I didn't feel like talking that much though.

"I bet all eyes would've been on you." He said in a friendly way, not flirtatiously. No, Eddie and I weren't like that, we had more of a brother, sister relationship. His comment made me laugh and he smiled.

"Actually, since you're out of the picture, I don't mean that in a good way, I think Mia will be the centre of attention. You should see her dress." Something seemed to sparkle in his eyes when he talked about Mia. Did he… oh… this was interesting…

Mia laughed and playfully punched him in the arm. He acted hurt, but we all knew that he was tougher than that. I crammed the last bit of toast into my mouth and chewed at lighting speed. I wanted to get out of here, even though this 'Eddie and Mia' thing was interesting. I grabbed my apple juice bottle and stood up.

"Ok… well I'll see you guys later." I said, about to turn my back on them.

"Leaving so soon?" Eddie asked and I turned around to face them again.

"Ya… I need to help Lissa get ready." I spoke slightly bitterly by accident. I didn't want to see Lissa right now. I didn't want to see anyone.

"You sound upset by that. What's wrong?" Eddie asked, clearly concerned and worried. Just like a big brother.

"Nothing. Everything's fine." I lied. Clearly, everything was _not_ fine.

"She's getting ready so early? We still have several hours!" Mia exclaimed, surprised, and wanting to drop the subject of what was wrong with me.

"Ya, the ball starts at 2am." Eddie agreed with the same sparkle appearing in his eyes again.

"You can't rush perfection… plus she wants to get there on time." I gave them a smile, to make them believe that everything was ok. They sighed, at the same time. Jeez, they looked like a couple.

"Ok. Well I guess we'll see you later Rose." Mia said, sounding slightly disappointed.

"Ya. See ya." I said quickly before half walking half running towards the exit, the door to my freedom from this awkward place.

I ran to the elevator and pressed the button several times. I was acting like I was in a hurry, even though I wasn't really. The doors opened and I wasn't happy with the sight in front of me.

He was standing on the left side of the elevator and just stood there, staring. I couldn't tell how he was feeling, or what he was thinking, I couldn't read him anymore. Thanks to recent confusing events…

The doors of the elevator closed. What the hell? I pressed the button again, several times. The doors opened again and revealed Dimitri, still staring at me. This was creepy. I walked in and he looked at me the entire way. The doors closed behind me and the elevator began ascending.

"What the hell are you looking at?" I asked, wait more like screamed at him. I felt so stressed right now, so he was the unfortunate one to feel my wrath. The bitch came out of me.

"Please Rose. Don't hate me…" He pleaded. I didn't need him right now.

"How else am I supposed to feel about you? You break up with me and then you go and date my best friend!" I screamed again.

"If you think about it Rose, we weren't really a couple. Hardly anyone knew about us." Now he disowned our entire past relationship? Oh, now he was going to get it.

"We weren't a couple? In other words you're saying that we weren't together?!? How could we have not been together? We were together in _so_ many ways!" I screamed even louder, luckily the elevator was still moving. But then I realised that I hadn't even pressed the button. I reached for it but then the elevator came to an abrupt halt.

I fell towards Dimitri and he caught me. I shook his arms off me violently and bolted to the opposite side.

"What the fuck just happened?" I shouted looking around me, suddenly feeling slightly claustrophobic.

"The elevator's jammed." He took the emergency phone off the wall and held it to his ear. He swore in Russian.

"The phone's dead." He muttered under his breath.

"Did you do this?" I asked, thinking of as many possible reasons for this.

"Rose, listen to you. You need some rest."

"No I don't! Get me out of here!" I ran to the doors and banged on them as hardly as I could.

"Stop!" He shouted, pulling me back from my waist.

"Get your filthy hands off of me!!!" I shouted as loud as I could and punched him in the face. He didn't dodge my attack… that was strange. He pulled back and rubbed his cheek.

"I guess I deserved that." He said, still rubbing at his bruised cheek.

"Like hell you do!" I shouted bitterly.

He was silent for a few moments, while I was pacing around in a strange oval-like shape along the floor.

"I lost so much for you. So much because of you! I gave you my heart and you tore it up! Don't forget Dimitri Belikov, _you're the one_ who took my innocence!!!" I was absolutely enraged right now.

He was silent and just stared at me like he realised how much he actually hurt me.

"Roza…" He whispered, which I just barely heard.

The elevator started up again. I stumbled a bit but held onto a railing attached to a wall. We continued going up. I quickly pressed the button for my level and went back to my side, my corner of the elevator. Dimitri wasn't staring anymore; he was looking guilty and ashamed. Good. I wanted to hurt him, for how much he hurt me.

The elevator reached my level and I got off. Surprisingly, Dimitri didn't get off. Why was he on the elevator in the first place? I looked back just as the doors were closing and caught the sight of Dimitri's brown eyes, full of sorrow.

I gulped and walked down the hallway towards my room. What was that all about?

I opened the door and was greeted by a cloud of perfume whacking me in the face. The perfume had a nice fragrance but at dangerous amounts like this, it was just too much. I coughed and spluttered a few times and Lissa heard me. I closed the door.

"Oh Rose! Sorry about the perfume! I think I may have gone a bit overboard…" She walked towards me from her make-up table and put her hand on my back leading me further into the room.

"No, no, no, you've _definitely_ gone overboard." I joked. She giggled. I looked around; my room's door was closed, thank God. At least the smell wouldn't spread too much.

I couldn't believe that I could actually joke at a time like this. When everything was going wrong, I had to try and keep myself from thinking about my problems. Distractions, yes distractions were what I needed. Lissa could keep me occupied for the time being.

"Ok… well I need your help deciding what hairstyle I should wear tonight." Lissa asked as she took out some fashion magazines from a cupboard. I sat down onto a chair in the corner of her humungous room.

"Alright." I replied, taking the magazines from her. This could keep me busy for a little while.

"I'll be changing into my dress." She took her white dress out of her walk-in wardrobe, which I envied since I didn't have one of my own, and went into the bathroom.

I flipped through pages and pages. I looked through 2 magazines when I finally saw it, the perfect hairstyle to match Lissa's dress.

Lissa came out of the bathroom and I looked up from the page I was studying. Lissa looked amazing in the strapless white dress.

"Wow Liss. You look stunning." She smiled excitedly at my comment.

"I can't wait to see the look on Dimitri's face when he sees me!" She giggled. Well you should've seen the look on his face when he saw _me_, I wanted to say, but didn't.

"I found a nice hairstyle for you." I said, getting up from my chair and showing her the page.

"Oooh, I love it!" She said happily while sitting down in front of her make-up table with the mirror on the back attached to it. I walked until I was standing next to her.

"So what make-up do you want to wear?" I asked, looking at the huge amount of make-up supplies stacked neatly on top of one another.

"I was thinking of just some… light make-up. I don't want to look too 'showy' or something." I just had to laugh at that.

"Ok… hmmm… close your eyes Lissa. Let me work my magic and you can see everything when it's finished."

"Fine. How long are you going to take?" She asked, with her eyes still open.

"Depends. But I promise that we won't be late."

"Ok." She gave me one last smile before closing her eyes.

I set to work. I decided to do her hair first. The hairstyle that we had agreed on was a classy, neat and elegant braided bun that complimented her dress. I took her brush and worked my magic.

I was finished and I looked at the clock. That had taken me several hours! Oh well, I looked at the end result and back at the page and it was just about identical. I couldn't help but feel proud about my masterpiece.

I moved on to the make-up. I was done in a matter of minutes and I examined the creature in front of me. Lissa looked amazing. Maybe in an alternate world, I could've been a hair stylist or make-up artist.

"Alright Lissa. You can open your eyes now." She opened them slowly and her eyes almost bulged out.

"Oh my God Rose! Thankyou so much! I look… breathtaking!" She peered into her reflection like it wasn't her that she was seeing.

"You're welcome."

"I hope that Dimitri likes everything." She just had to mention his name. My bright mood darkened slightly.

"He will. Trust me." She nodded in reply.

"Hey, it's time to go." I said while looking at the clock. We had to be there in a couple of minutes.

"Perfect timing. I'll just get my purse." She stood up and went to her bedside table.

I took this brief moment to stare at myself in the mirror. I looked like a proper guardian. A guardian who had faced many challenges in her life, but whatever fears I had faced, were nothing compared to how I felt now. Who knew what could happen at the ball?

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**Remember! I need 60 reviews to post the next chapter!**

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**You can find pictures of Lissa's dress and hairstyle on my profile page. Just click on the links, found near the bottom, but above my stories.**

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	9. One memorable night

**Here's the chapter you've been waiting for!!! :D**

**I asked for 60 reviews, but i got an extra 2!**

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**DISCLAIMER: Characters etc. belong to Richelle Mead. Except for this little story here.**

**-Deni**

* * *

Lissa was all ready to go to the ball. But was I ready to watch the man I loved or maybe even used to love, dance with her? I was having mixed feelings about him.

"There's something we forgot!" I said before she opened the door.

"What is it?" She turned around to face me.

"Jewellery! Think of it as the finishing touch."

"Oh ok then." She walked to her bedside table and opened a drawer. She took out a small box and handed it to me.

"Since, you've been doing everything. You can decide on this one too. I know you'll make the perfect choice! You have with everything else so far anyway…"

"Oh, thanks Liss." I opened the box and my eyes almost popped out from all the jewels that were in my hands. There were bracelets, necklaces and earrings with diamonds, rubies, pearls, you name them. I had never seen this box before.

"I know, I know. You've never seen this before… I've kinda kept this as my secret stash… because… I wanted to give you something." Lissa said.

"You wanted to give _me_ something?" I said sounding utterly confused.

"Yes, I've been waiting for the right moment, and here it is." She dug through the many treasures and pulled out two different necklaces.

"Ah, here we are." She held the two necklaces up and then told me to turn around. She put one of the necklaces around my neck and once it was on me, I looked into the mirror. It was beautiful. It had a miniature red rose as the main focus, with a gold trim around it that finished in a little but thick kind of hook on the bottom.

"I chose this because I thought it would suit you perfectly." She said while walking to my side and looking at my reflection as well.

"But why? I don't need fancy gifts Lissa, even though this looks absolutely gorgeous." I touched the hook; it was sharp but not too sharp to hurt anyone.

"To symbolise our friendship. Rose, you mean so much to me; you've been there for me all the time. You're like a sister. Think of this as a… thankyou present."

"This is more than a 'thankyou'. How much was this?"

"It was very expensive, but worth every penny. Ya know, that little rose is real."

"It's real? What, how?"

"It's preserved in a lacquer that will let it last forever. Like our friendship Rose, I want it to last forever. And that sharp gold edge, that part that looks a bit like a fang, symbolises how tough you are. You don't let anyone mess with you."

"You've done a lot of thinking into this haven't you?" I asked, very curious. She nodded proudly. I touched the gold chain of the necklace and looked at Lissa. I pulled her into a big bear hug.

"Thankyou, so so much." I said as I felt happy tears coming to my eyes. This was a first. All my previous tear shedding was because of sorrow. I forgave Lissa for everything, for taking my Dimitri. He didn't matter anymore, well not at this moment. My friendship with Lissa was more important than almost anything else! I released her from my embrace.

"That's not the end yet. You have to choose what I have to wear remember?" She lifted the other necklace she had in her hand until it reached my eye level. It dangled in the air and I gasped.

"It's a jade rose." I said while putting my hand on my mouth in surprise.

"Another thing that symbolises how important you are to me. How much I trust you." She gave it to me and turned around. I put it on her neck and she turned back around. The necklace looked perfect on her. It made her eyes stand out and she looked extraordinary. It had a beautiful jade rose with jade, pearl and silver beads as the chain.

"Told you you'd make the perfect choice." She smiled.

We went down the elevator feeling nervous and anxious. I had to tell Lissa to breathe because of the excitement that was overwhelming her. We made it to the main floor and we went through the double doors of the ballroom. People had started gathering already. All eyes were on us, well Lissa. Some of the male Royals started whispering to each other and I heard someone say that Lissa was up for grabs. No she wasn't, not on my watch.

"Hey. She has a date tonight. So don't try anything." I said to the guy who commented about Lissa.

"What are you going to do?" He looked me up and down.

"Well I hope it's me." He smirked. I had enough of this.

"For royalty, you are one up yourself ass." He looked astounded from my insult, but hey, he needed to be taught a lesson. Even though he was a Royal, he was still a jerk.

"Wait a second, Jesse? Jesse Zeklos?" Whoa, he looked a whole lot different. He looked exhausted. It was kind of depressing, perhaps he got into a _lot_ of alcohol and maybe even women. What a womanizer.

"So much for stating the obvious." He scoffed.

"Ya sure… I'd recognise that bitchy attitude anywhere."

"I'm sorry, who's the bitch? I'm staring at one right now."

"Well stop staring you pervert!" I shouted. The room suddenly went awkwardly silent. I guessed that I may have shouted a bit too loud…

"That's right! I never want to see you again! You slept with me and you left! You left me and never called!!! You broke my heart Jesse Zeklos!!!" I was cracking up on the inside, but I had to use my acting skills to get back at him. I wanted him to be dateless, so I shouted that at the top of my lungs to make sure that everyone in the ballroom heard. Jesse looked embarrassed and I gave him my most evil smile before Lissa pulled me away.

"Wow. Thanks for causing such a scene…" Lissa said, while searching through the crowd of people, but she wasn't being sarcastic. I loved her for that.

"You're welcome." I said proudly. This night was going to be memorable.

"It was brilliant!" She laughed. The noise in the room was back to normal.

"Dimitri!" Lissa cried out and Dimitri looked up from the ground. Was it me, or did he look depressed?

She ran to the entrance of the ballroom and greeted him with a more than friendly hug. Even though Dimitri and I were in rough times, I had to admit that he looked god damn fine in the suit that Lissa had bought him. I walked behind her.

"Well, since you've found him. I guess you don't need me anymore. I'll go… work." I said, looking around to where the rest of the guardians were. She nodded and went off with Dimitri to the dance floor. The rest of the guardians who were on duty, we're watching from the sidelines, in other words, they were standing, some even leaning on the walls. I spotted Eddie and pushed past some people to get to him.

"Hey Rose." He looked happy to see me.

"Hi Eddie." He looked at my necklace.

"It was a present from Lissa." I explained to him, he nodded.

"Your friendship with her is the strongest I have ever seen."

"I've seen stronger."

"Really?"

"Yeah, yours and Mason's." We didn't really like bringing Mason up in conversations, but he was the reason why Eddie and I had bonded so much. We had to thank Mason for that. He was an amazing guy. We still couldn't believe that we had really lost him. Eddie smiled sadly. Maybe I shouldn't have said that…

The noise suddenly went down again and we both looked at the entrance. In came Adrian, with Mia. Eddie was right; Mia looked stunning in her dress as it flaunted her best features. While Adrian… he took my breath away…

What the hell? I looked away from the couple and looked back at Eddie. He looked mesmerised, but then his gaze shifted slightly and he narrowed his eyes. I couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" He asked, surprised by my sudden outburst.

"Don't act dumb. I know you have a thing for Mia." I winked at him. He sighed.

"You figured it all out."

"It wasn't that hard. You had a twinkle in your eyes when you talked about her and you were mesmerised when you saw her."

"Is it that obvious?" I nodded in reply. He laughed. Then he had a look of realisation.

"Oh, where's Christian?" The news hadn't spread to him yet.

"I guess he's not here."

"Really? I thought he'd be here with Lissa."

"Actually… they broke up." I admitted.

"Whoa… that's a shocker." He ran his fingers through his hair.

"I guess there's no point for him to come now. He only used to come for Lissa." I continued.

"Hmmm… Ya I guess so." He replied, still shocked, with everything slowly sinking in.

From the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Dimitri glaring at us, actually more like glaring at Eddie. He was dancing with Lissa but her back was to us, while he stared in our direction. I didn't want to meet his eyes.

"So I guess it will be hard for you to see Mia with Adrian." I blurted out. He was silent for a few seconds and I realised that that was possibly the worst thing that I could've said to him right now.

"Yes it will be. But I'll hope. Maybe one day, she'll… notice me."

"She will. You're too special to miss out on." I kissed him encouragingly on the cheek.

"Thanks." He replied.

I looked around the room, missing Dimitri's eyes, and caught sight of something worse. Well, it felt worse. Adrian and Mia were dancing, like they had been dance partners for years and they were professionals. Mia was so graceful in every movement she made, and Adrian was leading and let me just say wow. He really had some moves!

She was laughing, and he seemed… content? He looked like he was having a good time but there was something lurking beneath the surface. He looked like he felt that there was something wrong. Maybe, just maybe, he didn't like Mia as much as she liked him. Maybe I still had a…

What are you thinking Rose?!? Why are you suddenly feeling this way?!? Snap out of it!

He spun her round and she fell gracefully into his arms and they looked at each other like they were the only ones in the room. It was like a scene from a ballroom dancing movie, and they were a couple doing the Tango, where the male caught the female just before she fell to the ground, so she was halfway from standing and falling.

I couldn't take it anymore.

"Eddie, do you think I can take a break?" I asked him.

"I guess… well maybe. Just don't let Queen Tatiana catch you. Besides, I think the Moroi have enough protection, and what are the chances of Strigoi attacking the Royal court just when you decide to take a break?" He had a very fine point which made me smile.

"Alright. I'll be back." Eddie always knew how to cheer me up. But this time, it only worked for a couple of seconds.

I walked away from the wall and looked around. A balcony was on the other side of the room. Perfect. I needed some fresh air.

I walked around groups of people, mostly chatting about how rich they were… typical Royal stuff. I reached the door that led to the balcony and opened it. A gust of wind blew in and hit me.

"Hey close that damn door! It's freezing!" Someone shouted. I quickly went outside into the cold early morning air and closed the door tightly. Stupid Moroi telling me what to do! I surprised myself by not going after that person and yelling at them, but I needed fresh air. I didn't need to feel negative right now.

I looked around the night sky and the stars were out and were shining brightly. They gave me enough light to see the buildings next to us. Each building had extra or special features, you could say. Like my building had a ballroom, so that's why everyone was here. Other buildings had pools, basketball courts and all sorts of things, but never any shops. Apparently, this place was for living, not spending. The Queen stated that herself. So we always had to go out to buy things.

The cold air was refreshing and I let myself really relax for once, and I breathed the cool air in and out deeply, absorbing the well needed oxygen. I remembered what happened earlier today, I had been on a balcony, just like this, leaning on the railing and thinking. Then Christian came along…

Arms wrapped around me. Hang on, was I re-living my thoughts, or was this real. I went with my instincts.

"Christian, why are you-" I whipped around and it wasn't Christian. I pushed his arms off.

"Roza…"

"I told you before, don't call me that." I stood my ground. He was so frustrating. He sighed.

"Listen to me Rose. I have to tell you something important."

"No, you listen to me! Why did you wrap your arms around _me_ and why did you call me _Roza_? Where's Lissa?!?"

"She's back inside."

"You didn't answer my first question Dimitri." I said harshly. He kept quiet, but I already figured it out.

"You want me back don't you? What, do you think I'm some sort of play toy that you can have whenever you want?!?! Well guess what comrade, I'm not!!!" I spat at him.

"Rose. I'm sorry. Sorry for everything. I shouldn't have pushed you away like that. I really thought that it would've been for the best and that I could've moved on, but I couldn't." His voice was full of emotion.

"And you went ahead and tried to move on, with my best friend! What were you thinking?!?"

"I don't really know Rose. I guess it seemed like an opportunity to move on, to start again."

"Did you even ever consider that she had a boyfriend!?!"

"She told me that she and Christian had broken up… Don't forget that she was the one who asked me in the first place. _She_ made the first move. Not _me_."

"But…uh… gah!" I was lost for words. He stared at me confused.

"Dimitri, why are you telling me this now?"

"I realised that I still love you and that that will never change."

"Well… if you told me this a couple of days I ago, I would've believed you! Now… I just… don't know."

"I'm sorry Rose. But if this is what it takes to get you back, I'll do it."

"What do you mea-"

He cut me off with his lips. He pulled me into him and I could feel the heat radiating from his body, making me feel warm. This kiss was so different to the forced one he tried to pull on me the other day. This kiss was… desperate. It was like he was trying to really prove his point to me and was kissing me with all he had. I didn't really know what to do; I wasn't even reacting to his touch.

Then I heard a gasp from the entrance to the balcony. I was pretty sure that it wasn't from me or Dimitri. We weren't alone anymore. Then there was another gasp. Dimitri pulled away, just noticing our spectators. We stared at them in embarrassment as well as shock, and I felt extremely guilty.

I was right; this was going to be one memorable night…

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**I hope you liked it! :P**

**Sorry guys, but i'll only post the next chapter when i get 100 reviews...**

**It's just that you guys reviewed so quickly that i couldn't update any of my other stories!!! lol**

**I'm not saying that it was a bad thing though, it was very nice :)**

**So keep reviewing and help me make it to 100!!! WOO!**

**:P**

**P.S You can see Lissa's dress, hairstyle and necklace and Rose's necklace on my profile! Just click on the links! :)**


	10. Disaster

**Hehe i know i said that i'd post this when i got 100 reviews but i figured that that was too much... so here it is!**

**:P I'll try and post more regularly now, let the reviews come in naturally... i guess... lol**

**DISCLAIMER: Characters etc. belong to Richelle Mead. Except for this little story here.**

**-Deni**

* * *

I couldn't believe what I had just done. Hang on. It was Dimitri's fault. Why did he have to admit his true feelings right now? But I didn't pull away… maybe it was my fault after all?

"You two really can't keep your hands off each other can you?" Adrian scoffed and looked disgusted. For some reason, that hurt me, a lot.

If that wasn't bad enough, Adrian wasn't the only one who had walked in on us, Lissa did as well. However, she kept quiet and just gave me a death stare, like I betrayed her. I felt something tighten in my chest and I couldn't breathe. Lissa took the jade rose necklace off her neck and threw it, over the balcony. She then stormed off and slammed the door. I felt so ashamed; I had just been caught kissing my best friend's date, which I didn't want anymore anyway. I looked at the ground and stared at my feet for no apparent reason, I was just so confused, what was I going to do now? I heard the doors of the balcony open again and close. Adrian had left. I let out a huge sigh.

"This is your fault you know?" At least I hoped that it was.

"Excuse me?" He cocked an eyebrow and crossed his arms.

"You know what I said! How could you Dimitri, how could you fucking play Lissa like that?!?!" I shouted at him. He looked away and didn't say a word.

"I was wrong about you. You're exactly like every other jerk out there." I left it at that and opened the balcony door.

I didn't look back and I slammed the door behind me with Dimitri still outside. The Moroi had stopped dancing and were sitting at tables around the room ready for their dinner, and they were all staring at me.

"Nice of you to join us Miss Hathaway." Queen Tatiana said to me in a stern voice. Of course she was lying about it being nice, I knew she hated me, as I hated her.

I cleared my throat and walked to the wall to stand by Eddie who looked very curious. The attention was now on the Queen and she stood up on a small stage at the far end of the ballroom in front of a podium. If she ever looked terrifying, it was now; she stood up tall and looked down on us. Yes, looked down on us in _every_ possible way.

"So how was your break?" Eddie looked very curious.

"Don't even ask." I tried to sound calm but it came out a bit bitter.

"Excuse me Miss Hathaway, if you would like to excuse yourself to continue that conversation please do so at once." Queen Tatiana called out which made everyone look back at me. I guess I spoke louder than I thought. I didn't bother apologizing to her or anything, she didn't deserve my apologies. The old hag just scoffed and cleared her throat, forgetting about me for the time being and focusing on the dozens of Moroi in the ballroom.

Adrian, Mia and a few other Moroi were sitting in the table that was a few feet from where Eddie and I were standing. Eddie had to look out for Mia after all and I had to look out for… wait, where was Lissa?

I scanned the room carefully, I couldn't see her anywhere.

I sensed someone next to my right while Eddie was on my left. I turned around and I didn't exactly welcome the person in front of me. Janine Hathaway, my mother, looked at me, and boy oh boy did she look angry…

"Rose. You should learn some manners."

"Have you seen Lissa?" I asked, not caring about what she just said.

"Did you even hear me? And no, I haven't seen her. Why don't you know? She is _your _charge."

"Yes… but she stormed off and she isn't here."

"You graduated at the top of your class Rose; you should know what to do... You've disappointed me; you shouldn't be coming to me for help."

"First off, why should I treat the Queen fairly when she doesn't give a shit? Second, I'm not asking for your help, I don't even want it. I simply just asked you a question, mother." I said through gritted teeth, I so did not want to get into an argument with my mother now, especially when my best friend or maybe even ex-best friend was nowhere to be found in the ballroom.

"She's probably in your room."

"Alright… I'll check." I turned and started walking away. Of course she was in our room! Well she had to be… right? Why didn't I think of that before?

"I'm sure your absence won't cause as much trouble as you already have." Oh no, she did not just say that…

I turned around to face her, ready to beat the living daylights out of my mother.

"Rose." Eddie said calmly while putting his hand on my shoulder. I immediately relaxed a bit and turned away from them again. I gave Eddie a nod, thanking him for stopping me from making a rash decision. When did I get so violent?

It was all too much. Dimitri changing his mind all the time, Lissa now probably hating me, Queen Hag already hating me… and that was only from the top of my head. There were many more complications in my life that just didn't make life easier.

I walked out of the ballroom and headed to the elevator. I pressed the button and waited anxiously for the elevator to reach my level. In a matter of minutes, Lissa was going to know the truth, the whole truth. I had to explain everything to her, even if we weren't friends anymore, she deserved to know.

The doors opened and I stepped inside. I really hoped that the elevator wouldn't jam again. I pressed the button and waited. The doors opened.

"Well here goes nothing." I muttered to myself quietly.

I walked to our room and took out my key. I opened the door and to my surprise Lissa wasn't there. I checked her bathroom, even my room, but she still wasn't there.

I was starting to panic; I ran out of our room, making sure to lock the door and took the stairs instead of the elevator. This was an emergency, Lissa never left this building and she never went outside into the rest of the Royal Court without a guardian. Sure, the Royal Court had wards just like St. Vladimir's, but after what happened at the academy, I didn't trust wards as much anymore.

I ran into the ballroom and searched for Dimitri. Even though I really didn't want to see him, he had to help, especially since Lissa's life could've been in danger.

"Dimitri!" I sounded freaked out, and frankly I was. I couldn't let anything happen to Lissa. No matter what had happened only moments before, she was still my best friend, still my charge.

"Where's Lissa?" He said, rushing to my side.

"I don't know. She isn't in our room, I think she's outside!" I started to turn but he grabbed me by the shoulder and spun me back around gently.

"Rose, about what happened… can we talk?"

"Not now! Can't you see Lissa could be in danger? Are you out of your freaking mind?!?" I couldn't believe that he could be so selfish.

"We're surrounded by wards. She's safe."

"Dimitri, you of all people should know that we can't always rely on the wards. They _can _fail." He was almost killed when the wards broke down at the academy. Right now, it was like he forgot about everything that happened during the Strigoi attack. His jaw tightened.

"Let's go already!" I was really frustrated with him right now. Damn Dimitri…

I took off, not really caring if he was coming or not. I ran out of the ballroom, then out of the huge main doors of the building and out into the cold night. There were street lamps lining the road, and other buildings surrounding me in the Royal Court. I looked left and right, Dimitri was behind me, I took off to my left. I ran, looking in between buildings, in dark alley ways… then I heard a muffled sound.

I crept into the alley way and took out my stake. Luckily, stealth was one of my strengths. Lissa was being dragged by, 2 Strigoi. I knew it, the wards were useless. Both Strigoi were trying to restrain her and one was covering her mouth with their hand.

I quickly took in my surroundings before they noticed me. They must've climbed over the brick wall that wasn't too high up, and that meant that the wards were destroyed. Who knew if there were more Strigoi around?

Dimitri ran up to one and punched it, flinging it towards the brick wall. The other Strigoi was a tall male and he finally noticed us and grabbed onto Lissa tightly causing her to yelp in pain.

"Don't you dare." I threatened him, standing still on the spot while Dimitri was busy killing the other one.

"What are you going to do?" He smirked at me.

"Don't you notice that your partner is dead?" Sometimes I couldn't believe how heartless these monsters were. Dimitri crept up behind him, but stayed still.

"Don't you see that the last Dragomir is going to be?" That did it. I ran up, ready to charge my stake through his heart.

Out of nowhere he took out a knife, took his hand off her mouth and stabbed Lissa. I saw the point of the knife coming out from her stomach, and she screamed. He pulled the knife out just as Dimitri tackled him.

"No!" I caught her as she fell to the ground. I laid her down on the ground gently and I held her up with my arms. She was coughing up blood and her eyes were getting heavy, while Dimitri was taking care of the bastard that stabbed her.

"Lissa… it's going to be ok. Stay with me." I felt a strange sensation in my throat as tears started to fall down my cheeks.

"I'm sorry Rose." She whispered weakly.

"No, I'm the one who should apologize. Please, don't leave me, not like this!" I pushed a bit of her hair behind her ear; she started to cry as well. She was coughing savagely and I sat her up.

"Please Lissa. Stay with me!" Her eyes were starting to close.

"Lissa!"

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**Lissa!!!! :O**

**I hope ya'll don't hate me... lol**

**REVIEW PLEASE!!! :D**


	11. So many lost

**lol huge cliffhanger for the previous chapter!**

**:)**

**This one, i can tell you now, doesn't have such a big cliffhanger like the previous one, however, it's sad and oddly a bit happy near the end... o.O**

**Hehe... this is so complicated... :P **

**But hopefully in a good way! :)**

**DISCLAIMER: Characters etc. belong to Richelle Mead. Except for this little story here.**

**-Deni**

* * *

I was carrying her limp and bloody body in my arms. Dimitri and I were running towards the clinic in one of the buildings. I ran as fast as I could, making sure that she was ok. I couldn't tell, I felt her pulse, it was weak.

We barged through the doors and Dr Olendzki was shocked to see us. Then she saw Lissa's condition and she immediately went white.

"What happened?" She asked.

"Strigoi attacked her." Dimitri answered. Nurses came with a kind of hospital bed and I gently put Lissa down onto it.

"What? Strigoi, how is that possible?"

"The wards are down." I replied. She gasped. We kept walking while a nurse was wheeling Lissa's bed into a private room.

"But Lissa… Oh my God, the baby!" Dr Olendzki screamed and put her hand on her mouth in shock. Shit. Lissa was pregnant! I forgot in all the events happening so quickly.

_The baby… it had to survive… Lissa's baby…_

"She's lost a lot of blood. Mary, call Alberta and tell her the wards are down." Dr Olendzki called to the Moroi woman at the counter back in the main room.

"How are the wards down?"

"Honestly, I don't know Rose. Maybe Moroi magic is just weakening as time goes by… Strigoi are getting more powerful each day… which is definitely horrible news."

"Fuck. What are we going to do? There could be a huge attack… like the one at the academy." Dr Olendzki's body immediately stiffened with the mention of the attack. She was very busy, during the attack, trying to help the injured, watching those who could not make it and hearing their last words. It was a horrible night to remember. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned it.

"Who knows how many Strigoi have made it in now?" Dimitri sounded worried. I gasped.

"The Moroi, _Royal_ Moroi are all in one place… we're in deep water." I said as I held onto Lissa's hand. She was getting cold.

"Dimitri, get Adrian, now!" He nodded and ran off out into the corridor.

"Lissa's condition is worse than I thought. We need to take her to the emergency room." Dr Olendzki and another nurse wheeled Lissa's bed into the corridor and through huge doors with 'Emergency room' on the front. I entered the room but was stopped by a nurse.

"I'm sorry ma'am but you have to wait outside while we operate on the princess." Bitch… I needed to be in there. However, I just nodded and sat down on a chair opposite the huge doors. I could hear the sounds of machines beeping and a woman shouting out 'Clear!' several times. My palms were getting sweaty as I waited for Adrian. What was taking Dimitri so long?

The doors to the clinic burst open and Adrian and Dimitri came running in.

"There are Strigoi all around the Court. Lock the doors now!" Dimitri ordered the nurses who looked scared as hell, either of the Strigoi or Dimitri… I was betting on Dimitri. Damn it, I was right, there was going to be an attack, it was already happening. But I couldn't go out there, not yet.

Adrian ran into the emergency room and… well I didn't see the rest. Stupid nurse making me wait outside…

I waited anxiously and I started to get a strange feeling in my body near my stomach. I felt like I was being flooded with happy memories and joy, something I hadn't felt in days really. Adrian was working his magic.

After a few minutes, the stupid nurse who told me to wait outside came out.

"You can come in now." She said and I literally ran through the doors pushing her aside. It served her right.

"Is she ok?"

"Yes, she's alive but… her baby…" Adrian trailed off. Lissa was still unconscious.

"What is it?" Did the baby survive?

"I _couldn't_ save it…" He looked so depressed. We hadn't really found the right time to tell the others about Lissa's baby so this must've been a huge shock to his system. I gasped in horror and tears started streaming my face. Adrian hugged me and surprisingly I didn't push him away. It was nice having someone try to comfort you. He stroked my back and whispered that everything was going to be ok. But that was a lie, and we both knew it, everything was definitely not ok. Strigoi were attacking the Royal Court while we were here grieving, and they needed me, out there.

"At least Lissa's ok." I tried to smile and I rubbed my face with the sleeve of my coat, while he let me go.

"Are you going out there?" Adrian immediately looked worried.

"Yes, they need me. Stay here."

"Be safe little dhampir." He gave me one last smile before I ran out.

"Dimitri, stay in here and protect all Moroi." I commanded. I sounded very professional.

"What about you? How's Lissa?" He was leaning against one of the walls.

"They need me. Lissa's fine."

"The Strigoi haven't reached the ballroom yet." I nodded in reply.

"Good luck." He got off the wall and walked to the main doors, unlocking them for me.

"Thanks." Was the last thing I said before stepping out onto the frozen sidewalk.

One thing came to mind after what just happened in the clinic.

Christian.

Where the hell was he? I was pretty sure that Alberta and the rest of the guardians could hold off the Strigoi in the ballroom. Christian wasn't there, was he still in his room? Either way, I would be heading in the same direction. I took my chances and went with my instincts. Or could he have gone to the church? Nah, I doubted it.

I started running to our building but along the way, something jumped on me. A Strigoi was on my back. I rolled so that I was on top of it. I arched my eyebrows in confusion to who I was straddling.

"What are you doing here?" I shouted at Christian.

"I didn't want to go to that stupid ball of yours so instead, I decided to spy on you fancy shmancy people, but then I saw some Strigoi." I ignored the fact that he wanted to spy on us, this night was weird enough.

"So why the hell did you jump on me?"

"The Strigoi could've seen you." He poked his tongue out. How childish for a father that just lost his child.

"Christian. This has to stop."

"What?"

"You know you don't love me. You still love Lissa. I can see it in your eyes." He looked away for a second but then looked back at me.

"You know… we're in a compromising position here." He winked at me. I got off of him and stood while he sat up.

"Seriously Christian. Stop."

"Why?"

"You know you still love Lissa. Stop the act. You know what, you're just a coward." I put as much venom as I could into it.

"I'm not a coward." He spat back.

"Oh really? Didn't you break up with Lissa just because she was pregnant?" He didn't answer my question and looked at the ground.

"Well, it doesn't matter anyway because the baby is dead." Better to get right to the point I guessed. He looked up at me.

"What?!?" He jumped to his feet.

"You heard me. Lissa was attacked by Strigoi."

"Where is she?"

"She's at the clinic." As I finished saying the last word, Christian started to run but I grabbed his shoulder.

"She's fine. I need you to save the other Moroi." I wanted to sound as calm as possible. He was probably in a lot of shock.

"What have I done? I'm so sorry Rose. This is all my fault."

"It's ok. You couldn't have done anything to stop this."

"I could've protected her! You know I could've!"

"Christian. Let it go. You need to have a clear mind to fight."

"But I can't!"

"You will." I hoped that I was as assuring as I could've been. He sighed.

"Let's go." I said and we both ran towards the ballroom.

Three Strigoi were surrounding the building. Shit. They already rounded up the Moroi; well at least it seemed so. We were too late. I felt nauseous, but not as much. I kind of got used to the feeling and it didn't hurt me as much anymore.

Christian ran up to them and set them all on fire. They screamed in pain and I took this as my chance to stake all three. That was just too easy. I had killed too many Strigoi to count by now; I got better after each kill.

I tried to open the doors of the building but they were locked. The Moroi and guardians were trapped inside, with the Strigoi.

"Ah!" I kicked the door, it wouldn't budge.

"Allow me." Christian said and tried to kick it down. He failed; I couldn't help but laugh at his attempt at being macho.

"Together ok? One, two, three…" I said. We kicked the door down and four Strigoi were on the inside fighting with two guardians. These Strigoi were strong, the guardians seemed to be having trouble. Christian lit the Strigoi on fire which made it a whole lot easier for them.

"Thanks!" One of the guardians shouted as he killed two Strigoi.

"The rest of them are inside. Alberta called reinforcements and here we are. We came to try and set them free." Another guardian said as she killed another Strigoi. I was astonished as to why there were only two reinforcements… there weren't any more in the Royal Court?

"But how did you get in?" I was utterly confused. They didn't come in through the doors.

"We climbed in through a window." The female guardian said.

"Ah ha…" Christian said, smacking his forehead. Why didn't we think of that?

The male guardian killed the last Strigoi in the room and we all ran through the doors of the ballroom. It was a shocking scene. There were bodies everywhere. Most were Strigoi but there were a lot of Moroi.

Beside the horror, it was an amazing event to watch, Moroi and dhampir, fighting side by side. The Moroi were using their powers while guardians were fighting with their fists. Wait, why was I watching?

I ran up to a Strigoi and stabbed it right in the chest. I looked back and Christian was setting Strigoi on fire, and he was on fire… well not literally but he was burning several Strigoi at once. I looked around, and Moroi who still thought that fighting with powers was wrong, had gathered in a corner with guardians around them who were fighting Strigoi off, Eddie among the bunch. Then there was Jesse, who was smack right in the middle of the ballroom alone and Strigoi were circling him. Why wasn't he using his powers? He looked drunk. Typical.

I ran up to the Strigoi closest to me and stabbed it. The rest of the Strigoi who had been circling Jesse noticed me and started charging towards me. I kicked one of them and sent him flying across the room. Another one came up behind me and I didn't notice. It grabbed me, well it tried to, I was too fast and I flipped it over my head and it landed with a crash on the floor in front of me.

"Is this the best you got?" I taunted the rest of them. One unleashed a strange kind of war cry, which I had to admit was sort of funny, and ran towards me. Big mistake, I felt kinda sorry for it. Not.

I finished the last one who had been bothering Jesse and suddenly Jesse was about to collapse on the floor.

"Whoa there buddy!" I tried to make him stable, he was really drunk. How could you get so drunk from a ball with limited alcohol? Then there was a bottle in his hand, idiot brought his own. I rolled my eyes and carried him over to where Eddie was protecting Moroi.

"Do you mind if you take him?" I asked, almost puffing, Jesse must have packed on the pounds.

"Of course not!" Eddie stabbed the Strigoi in front of him and I accidentally dumped Jesse in with the other Moroi. Yes, dumped. Eddie looked at me hysterically.

"Don't worry. He'll be fine." I winked at him and turned around.

There were still a lot of Strigoi around, but less than before. I looked at the crowd of Moroi surrounded by the guardians. The Queen wasn't here… so hang on, she was fighting? Well it was either that, or she was dead. As much as I sometimes wished she were, it would still be a tragedy… for most people. She had to be fighting.

At that very moment, a scream came from the stage that was on the other side of the room. It was Queen Tatiana and she was being cornered by three Strigoi. She was backing away, while they walked towards her slowly. I ran up to them and jumped on the stage. The Strigoi turned their heads towards me.

"Do you wanna do this the easy way, or the hard way?" I asked, putting on my innocent little girl face.

"Aww… do you wanna play tea party?" A male Strigoi mocked me. He was going to see that first impressions weren't always what they seemed to be. I stabbed him with lightning speed, he clearly wasn't expecting that. He fell to the ground with a thud.

"Anyone else?" The two other Strigoi had momentarily forgotten about the Queen and had their attention on me. I smirked at them and they both came running to me. I punched one, but he didn't stumble or anything. Oh crap, this one was extra strong and huge. He punched me in the face; damn I should've seen it coming. Not only was he extra strong and huge, he was also extra fast. The other one caught me from behind and restrained me. The huge Strigoi punched me in the face, twice. Ouch.

I could taste my own blood in my mouth. I definitely had enough of this. I lifted my leg up and managed to kick the Strigoi restraining me, in the groin, causing it to fall down to the ground behind me. The huge Strigoi in front of me then swang his arm towards me but I dodged it, thanks to my convenient size. This huge Strigoi did that sort of thing where he swung hard and fast but took a little while to recover. I took this time to stake him. He fell to the ground and I turned around quickly to the last Strigoi who had just gotten up. He tried to kick me but I dodged it and staked him. This was getting way too easy.

I turned to face Queen Hag; she was trembling in the corner of the stage. She clearly hadn't been in danger like this in ages. Once she noticed that I was staring at her, she quickly regained her composure and her face went bright pink. She obviously didn't like the idea that I had seen her terrified, and probably the idea that _I_ had saved her. However, she didn't mock me. She started clapping slowly and I could tell that she was forcing a smile on her face.

"Thankyou Miss Hathaway… for saving my life." She was in pain saying that, I knew it. But, did she mean it? Was she actually thanking me?

"You're welcome your majesty." I restrained myself from saying _'Stick it up your ass!'_

She gave me a fake smile and I turned to face the rest of the ballroom. Strigoi were dead, everywhere, but there were still a lot around. How many had come tonight? The entire species? No, I was pretty sure there were more, somewhere. Not all of them had come, no, it would've been a risky move for them.

I was about to run up and rejoin the battle, but a ray of light hit my eyes. The sun was rising. There were tall windows high up near the high ceiling of the ballroom. They usually closed the curtains when it was daylight, but they didn't have time for that now, of course. I heard yelps of pain from all the Strigoi as the light gradually hit them. The Moroi were fine momentarily, but not for long. The Strigoi were retreating back to the huge doors of the ballroom, but before they could reach them, a couple of guardians locked the doors. The Strigoi stopped in their tracks and looked around frantically for another way to escape, they found nothing. One by one, smoke started to rise from their bodies as they cried in pain. It was a sickening sound.

We took this to our advantage and we killed them all, Moroi and dhampir fighting side by side. I looked around the room; there was a lot of cleaning up to be done. Just about everything had been trashed, and a huge amount of bodies were lying around. The Strigoi were going to burn in the sun, but we needed to collect the Moroi bodies for proper burials of course. The rest of the Moroi started to cry in pain just like the Strigoi did because of the sun and guardians quickly went to close the curtains. It didn't get darker because the lights were still on.

"Everyone! May I have your attention please?" Queen Tatiana went up to the podium and everyone looked up at her.

"This has been a long day. Please proceed back to your buildings and you will be notified when funerals are arranged. However, if you are injured please proceed to the clinic. Hopefully, we'll have the wards back up by sun down." I could hear some Moroi women grieving over the deceased. Everyone slowly started to evacuate the scene. Funny enough, each Moroi had brought an umbrella to shield the light from them. I guessed they brought them in case of well the obvious, but also in case they stayed longer than planned. Moroi, especially Royal Moroi were well known to stay for a little after-party after balls in the Royal Court. But they certainly didn't expect to need them after a Strigoi attack that went until the sun had reappeared.

The crowd of people were leaving and I eventually found Christian, Eddie and Mia. Something seemed different; they looked oddly cheerful, even in this depressing situation. Then all of a sudden, Mia pulled Eddie close to her with her arms around his neck and kissed him. I couldn't help but smile. Christian looked away and rolled his eyes, then something flashed across his face, longing. He wanted to see Lissa. He needed to see Lissa. My smile got even wider.

But it faded as I looked around the room. It had been a long day indeed. How did so much happen in one day? We had lost so many… including some who weren't even in the battle. Lissa's baby. A life that hardly even began. Could I break the news to her? She would take it harder than the rest of us. If only we could turn back time. Whose fault had it really been?

* * *

**lol happy and sad ending...**

**With the whole miscarriage and then Eddie and Mia... :)**

**REVIEW PLEASE!**

**Whose fault is it for everything???**

**lol let me know who you think's to blame.**

**:)**


	12. Forgiven but messed up

**:) Sorry for posting this a bit late!**

**However, it's still here... so go on, read it! ;)**

**Let me know what you think in a review as well...**

**DISCLAIMER: Characters etc. belong to Richelle Mead. Except for this little story here.**

**-Deni**

* * *

Well, whoever's fault it was, it didn't matter now. It was too late.

"Hang on. Where's Lissa? The last time I saw her was before the ambush." Eddie looked confused and worried.

"Lissa's in the clinic, we should go check on her." I replied. His eyes widened.

"She's in the clinic? What happened?"

"You know how I left unexpectedly before the ambush? It was because I was looking for Lissa, and… long story." I said, Eddie and Mia looked up at me and nodded understandingly, and then they finally noticed Christian.

"Christian? When did you get here?" Eddie and Mia said, at the exact same time. They had been a couple now, for how long? Sheesh, they were already reading each other's minds.

"Oh, I came to help kill some Strigoi... Humph, well I guess my efforts have gone unnoticed." He crossed his arms and pouted like a stubborn girl.

"Aww… Christina… cheer up." I punched him in the arm playfully and he acted hurt. Eddie and Mia looked at each other, then back at me, and burst out laughing. At least _they_ were happy.

We walked through the ballroom door and into the main floor lobby. A feeling of shock and sadness entered my body, coming from Lissa. Oh no, she already knew. My friend needed me, especially in a time like this. I ran out the main doors and the others were calling my name wondering why I suddenly took off. I didn't stop though; I kept running towards the clinic, I could hear their footsteps anyway.

I thrashed against the doors of the clinic, they were still locked.

"Let me in!" I shouted, still banging the door with my fists. The doors began to unlock and Dimitri appeared in front of me. He looked devastated, he knew now as well.

"Move!" I shouted, rudely pushing him away and running to the counter. What was the nurse's name again? Mary, that was it.

"Mary! What room is Princess Vasilisa Dragomir in?" They must've moved her into a different room by now.

"She's in the room down that corridor to your left, the third one down." She pointed to it with her index finger with a perfectly manicured fingernail. I had no time for manicures anymore, unless if Lissa planned it, which was always nice. She was there for me then, it was time for me to be there for her again.

I ran down the corridor and into the room. Lissa was there on the bed, her eyes were red and puffy and Dr Olendzki was sitting in the chair beside her, patting her back.

"Oh good Rose, you're here." Dr Olendzki stood up from the chair.

"Is it safe in the court now?" I nodded in reply. Dr Olendzki left the room and shut the door for our privacy. I walked over to Lissa and hugged her tightly.

"I'm so sorry Liss." She cried harder into my shoulder. I stroked her back.

"I can't believe it Rose… I just…" She sobbed again.

"Everything's going to be fine soon." I pulled back and looked at her, tears started to run down my face. With her depressing feelings and my own, flooding my body, I couldn't stop them from coming out. I wanted to be strong for her; I needed to be strong for her. I wiped my eyes with my sleeve. I sat next to her on the bed.

"Liss, about Dimitri…"

"Don't. All is forgiven." She sniffled and I took a tissue for her to wipe her eyes.

"But… I can't help but feel guilty… I mean, it was wrong."

"Rose, it's alright. Dimitri wasn't the one for me anyway. We didn't really connect; it was like his mind was always someplace else when we were together. I think it was with you."

"Oh… well, Liss, I have something to confess."

"Alright. Go on."

"I don't know if you need more surprises today though, if I tell you this, will you be able to handle it?"

"Try me."

"Ok, well, you probably already kind of know this but…" I didn't know how to begin explaining the relationship between Dimitri and me. But I eventually found a way.

"Dimitri and I, had a kind of, attraction between us, ever since we met and we wanted to be together. But we knew we couldn't because we were going to be your guardians."

"Oh my god, Rose. I'm so sorry. Because of me, you couldn't be with him…"

"Don't worry it's not your fault Liss. Anyway, our attraction grew stronger and… we fell in love."

"Aww how sweet." I was surprised at how easily she was taking this. I guessed that she already went past the stage of 'Oh my god my best friend betrayed me!' after seeing what happened on the balcony.

"We also found a way to be together, but that plan failed. Then the Strigoi attack occurred at St. Vladimir's and Dimitri was having second thoughts."

"Oh no…"

"Ever since then, he's been pushing me away… and then he was with you." She gasped and put her hand on her mouth.

"I'm so sorry Rose. Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Enough with the apologising Liss, you don't have to. Well, I was going to tell you eventually, in fact we were going to tell everyone… but things went downhill and it remained a secret."

"Are things patched up now? You two were kissing on the balcony…"

"Actually, he kissed me. But I didn't kiss back."

"Oh…"

"It turns out that he still loves me and now he wants me back."

"Wow… I didn't know Dimitri was so…"

"I know." We both laughed a bit.

"Rose, honestly, I don't think he deserves you. I mean, he pushed you away and now wants you back. He might change his mind again…"

"You're right…" I sighed. I didn't know what to do.

"So… are you going to take him back?"

"I really actually have no idea Liss."

A knock interrupted our conversation.

"Come in!" I shouted, kind of annoyed. The door opened, it was Christian.

"I'll leave you two alone…" I got off the bed and walked towards the door. As I crossed the threshold, where Christian was still standing I whispered a 'Good luck' to him and I heard him gulp, which brought a small smile to my face.

I closed the door behind me and looked at my surroundings; no-one else was in the corridor. I went to a nearby wall and sank to the ground. I let Lissa's emotions pull me into her head. I was sitting on her bed, with an aching stomach, it was from the wound. My face felt wet and sticky from tears and well, I felt like crap. I was eavesdropping, but I couldn't stop myself, I was always nosy.

"Lissa, I'm so so sorry." Christian was so nervous, it was kind of funny. This was definitely a Kodak moment.

"You should be." Lissa sounded unimpressed. However, through the bond, I knew she was actually kind of excited, like she hoped for this.

"I am, deeply. Our baby…" He walked closer to her but she turned her head away from him.

"Lissa, I feel like the hugest idiot in the world for breaking up with you, just know that it wasn't because of you, or the baby. It was because I was… even though I absolutely hate to admit it, terrified."

"That's understandable." She was still looking away.

"Please look at me…" He said, and put his hand on her cheek gently turning her head to face him. He had tears in his eyes; this was clearly very hard for him. His expression also had a huge effect on Lissa, tears started coming out of her eyes again.

"Just know that I'm here for you, if you still want me." He said as he sat on the bed.

"Oh Christian! I've missed you so much!" She sat up and wrapped her arms around him, he hugged her back.

"I love you." He said so sincerely, it made Lissa melt, therefore making me melt too. Ok, this was getting awkward.

"I love you too." She said back, pulling away from him, and then staring into his eyes. Uh oh, they were about to kiss… I needed to get out of there!

I blinked a few times, I was back in the corridor. Phew! That was a close one!

"Hey little dhampir. Are you okay? What happened?" Adrian was walking towards me.

"Well, Lissa took the news hard, but she's stable right now, Christian's there by her side."

"Christian? I assumed that they broke up… I mean he wasn't with her at the ball, she was with Dimitri."

"Yeah they did, but they're together again. They need to support each other right now." I was so happy for them, i couldn't help but smile a bit.

"Agreed. So what are you doing out here?"

"I just… need a break. It's all too much. Plus, I had to give them some privacy."

"I see." He sank down to the ground and sat beside me. I brought my hands to my face and rubbed my eyes.

"Tired?" I nodded in reply.

"Come here." He motioned towards him with his hand, and I sighed giving into his suggestion. I slowly rested my head on his shoulder, I darted my eyes around, making sure no-one was watching us. I didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea. The coast was still clear and I relaxed. Some part of me felt extremely awkward, yet another part felt excited like I wanted this to happen. Did I want it to?

He didn't say anything; we sat there comfortable, in a peaceful silence, exactly what I needed. I must've drifted off as the next thing I saw was a frozen landscape that looked awfully familiar and I was standing on a balcony. Oh, I knew where I was. Adrian was there, with a clove cigar in one hand standing on the other side of the balcony. This was the place that we first met, why did he take us here?

I touched my face, ouch. I had my black eye; I guessed that he did everything to the finest detail…

"Adrian, why are we here?" I walked closer to him.

"Rose, we need to talk." He was still staring at the scenery around us.

"Well, what else are we doing right now?" I pointed out, jokingly. He smiled. I wrapped my arms around me and tried to fight off the feeling that I was freezing my butt off here. He noticed and just as he turned to face me, the sun rose behind him in the sky. I felt warm and let go of myself and looked at him.

"That still doesn't explain why we're _here._" I continued.

"I felt that we needed a special place to talk, a memorable place."

"Ok…"

"You do know where we are right?" He cocked an eyebrow.

"Of course! This is where we first met!" I replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I'm glad you remember, for this is where one of the most important events of my life took place."

"Meeting me?"

"What else? Rose, I know you're aware of my feelings for you."

"Am I?"

"Well you should know by now." He winked at me, of course I knew by now.

"I'm just wondering, hoping that you'll give me a chance someday. But, what I saw with you and Belikov…" He trailed off.

"Oh, that was nothing…" Well I hoped it was.

"No, that was something."

"Things are complicated between us…" At least I knew that was for sure.

"It's the same with us, isn't it?" He put the cigar in his mouth and inhaled the smoke. The smell was so familiar now; I hoped that I wasn't getting addicted.

"I guess so…"

"Little dhampir, I've been trying to prove that I'm good enough for you ever since we met. What's wrong with me? Am I repulsing? Ugly?"

"Not even close." I kind of whispered but he still heard. Adrian was actually one of the most charming and handsome men I ever knew, so why was I finding it hard to admit it? In fact, I had tons of things that I was scared to admit. Oh my god, my strange feelings towards him, now I knew why! I was...

"Whatever Belikov did to upset you, I'll never do. If you were mine, I swear I'd never let go of you. Never." He cut me off from my confession. When was I going to admit to myself that I had stronger feelings for him, than I thought? Oh wait, there you go. I admitted it! He threw his cigar over the balcony. He walked towards me and hugged me tight.

"Rose, I love you. I always have and I'll never stop. Do you feel the same way?" He pulled back to look at me.

"My Rose…" He brushed the side of my face with the back of his left hand. I shivered from his touch.

"I…." Of course I felt the same way! But that didn't come out my mouth… what was stopping me?

"Rose, I'll wait for you. I'll wait for you for the rest of my mortal life if I have to. If you were mine, I'd make sure that nothing could harm you ever again."

He looked at me expectantly, but I didn't know what to say. I mean, what could you say to that? I couldn't believe that I was so frightened about this, I had fought countless Strigoi, the most horrible creatures on the earth, and I was scared of this?

"Please Rose. Make my dream come true." He held my hands in his. He was so warm. Then it was like I couldn't control myself and I leant towards him, his face hovering above mine. Actually, I was controlling myself... I wanted this. He bent his head towards mine slowly. I closed my eyes, ready to share a kiss, but I didn't feel his lips against mine…

I felt myself being pulled back and my eyes flicked open. What the hell? Adrian was floating away from me, or was I floating away from him? I didn't know, but what I did know, was that we were being separated at a fast speed.

I opened my eyes and I was back at the clinic. Dimitri was shaking me, obviously trying to get me to wake up, but I honestly didn't want to.

"What in the world are you doing Dimitri!?!?"

"Well what are _you_ doing Rose! I walk into here and you're sitting here all cosy with Ivashkov… _asleep_!!!" He pointed at Adrian who had also just woken up and frowned at Dimitri as soon as he saw him.

"Hey! You can't blame a girl for wanting to get some beauty sleep!" I retorted.

"That doesn't explain why you're with Ivashkov here!" Dimitri was raising his voice with every word.

"I'm right here you know. It's _none _of your business Belikov, leave her alone."

"No. You leave her alone. All you can do is hurt her, and I'm going to protect her!"

"Really? The last time I checked, all you did was cause _more _pain!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Remember when we went to the shopping centre a few days ago? Rose was fine the first time I saw her that morning but after we got out of the car, she was so torn up, and it was because of _you_!"

"That's _not_ true."

"It is. Admit it. You _noticed_ that she was in pain, and you _didn't_ even try to end her suffering. That's where I came in."

"You don't come into _anything_ Ivashkov. You will have nothing to do with Rose from now on."

"Hey! You're _not_ my mentor anymore Dimitri. You don't have control over me." I was sick of him wanting to control my life, and now was time to fight back. He looked shocked.

"Leave her alone." Adrian said sternly.

"No." Dimitri spat back through gritted teeth.

"Then I won't either." Adrian crossed his arms.

"Yes you will." Dimitri glared at him.

"No. I won't." Adrian glared back.

"Um, guys?" They had completely ignored me and continued on with their useless arguing. But then the next few words caught my attention.

"That's it Ivashkov, tomorrow, you and me in the East garden. No rules. Be there at midnight."

"Fine."

"Then it's a deal."

"What the hell? Stop this!" I shouted jumping in between them.

"Stay out of this Rose." Adrian gently pushed me aside.

"How can I when this entire fight is about me?" They ignored me, again.

"You guys aren't going to kill each other right?" I continued and they still ignored me. This was so frustrating. Dimitri gave Adrian a death stare before leaving the clinic. Where was he going?

"Look, Rose." Adrian began.

"Quit it." I walked away from him and sat down in the waiting room on a grey chair within a row that was lined up against a wall.

Two of the most important men in my life were fighting tomorrow, because of me… Just great. I didn't want this to happen, I never wanted this, and this was actually one of my worst nightmares, Dimitri finally confronting Adrian. I gulped nervously just thinking about it. But hey, love wasn't an easy path that you could take when given the opportunity, however, I got more than I bargained for, instead of a path, I got a messed up maze.

This was definitely messed up.

It was a fight, with no rules, possibly to the death, but not if I could stop it.

* * *

**Hehe Adrian and Rose finally kind of admitting their feelings for each other, and then Dimitri cuts in!**

**;)**

**REVIEW PLEASE!!!**

**Btw, THANKYOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR HELPING ME REACH 100 reviews!!!! WOO!!!**

**Celebrate good times, come on!**

**:P**


	13. Oh God, the chemicals reacted

**OMG Sorry i haven't updated for SO long!!!**

**I hope you like this chapter! I just had to get someting up! I've just been busy with school etc... argh...**

**But now i'm sick, so... here is chapter 13! XD**

**The song is 'Chemicals react' by Aly & AJ.**

**DISCLAIMER: 'Chemicals react' belongs to Aly & AJ. Characters etc. belong to Richelle Mead. Except for this little story here.**

**-Deni**

* * *

I couldn't believe it. I rubbed my eyes, I was so exhausted. But not just physically, I was tired, of everything. I sighed and let my head rest on the wall behind me. How could those two be so childish?!?!

"Hey Rose. We finally caught up to you!" Mia exclaimed while sitting in the grey chair next to me while Eddie sat by her side.

"So how's Lissa? We wanted to go in… but the nurse didn't let us." Eddie said sounding disappointed.

"What, why?"

"She said it was too many people and that she needed her rest."

"Yeah, that nurse is definitely a bitc-"

"No, no. It's fine. It's completely understandable." Mia held out her hands as if to say 'stop'. I couldn't help but laugh and they both returned a smile.

"Well Lissa is fine right now… except well we didn't tell you this before… but she had a miscarriage…"

"Wait, Lissa was pregnant!!!" Mia's eyes almost bulged out of her head, which looked slightly odd as it just enhanced the fact that she looked like a porcelain doll.

"Yes… sorry for the late notice."

"That's terrible…" Eddie shook his head in sympathy.

"Wait, not the part about her being pregnant, but about the miscarriage." He added quickly to prevent the obvious assumption to what he had said before.

"It definitely is…" I chuckled sadly.

"How did it happen?" They both asked, at the same time. Sheesh...

"Well, the foetus didn't survive, so it-"

"I didn't mean that! Please leave those specifics out! It's too gory…" Mia exclaimed.

"Rose, what caused her miscarriage?" Eddie asked curiously.

"Lissa was attacked by Strigoi. One of the odd bastards had a knife." It was so disgusting.

"Oh my God." Mia gasped as Eddie quickly wrapped his arms around her to calm her down.

"Can we talk about a brighter topic? How did you two end up together?" Lissa's miscarriage was too upsetting; I had to change the topic before we all broke down into tears. Our tears wouldn't bring the baby back anyway.

"Well…" Mia looked up at Eddie and grabbed one of his hands in hers.

"During the Strigoi attack, Mia was fighting-"

"Quite badly if I may say so myself-" She looked down at their entwined fingers.

"No, you were absolutely fine! It's just that water isn't that effective against Strigoi."

"Out of all the elements, I just had to specialize in water!" They both chuckled. They were kinda freaking me out with their 'couple' behaviour…

"Anyway, I was having trouble when Eddie showed up and saved me-"

"From two huge ugly ones. I couldn't let her get hurt."

"And amongst all the events, he admitted his feelings for me." She blushed and kissed his cheek.

"Wow, I knew you had it in you!" I gave Eddie a warm smile and he returned it with another smile.

"Oh and Rose, while you were gone, Queen Tatiana explained the reason for the ball." Mia said quickly as she had a look of realisation on her face.

"There's been a staff shortage as Strigoi numbers are growing at an insanely fast rate." Eddie continued where Mia left off. Whoa, that was why there were only two reinforcements that Christian and I had found near the entrance. Then I remembered what I had to do.

"Oh, sorry guys, I've got something urgent to attend."

"That's fine. We'll wait here until the nurse lets us visit Lissa." I replied to them with a nod.

I got up from the chair and looked around. Adrian was still in the corridor that I had last seen him. He looked at me, his eyes were red, and it hurt me to see him that way. But I didn't pay much attention to him, I just looked away. I was disappointed with him. How could he just go ahead with this 'fight'? There was no way in hell that he could beat Dimitri.

That's it. I had to find Dimitri and try to convince him to stop this before it was too late. I stepped out of the clinic and the bright and beaming sun hit me. It had been ages since I felt its warmth. It felt good, and it woke me up. Where could Dimitri be?

I ran to our building in the Royal court and went up the elevator. I got to Dimitri's room and knocked on the door. No answer.

"Dimitri, are you there?" There was still no answer. I put my ear to the door to try and hear if there was any sign of him being in the room. Nothing.

Just great. Come on Rose, think! Dimitri would probably be stressed right now; he'd want to relax wouldn't he? It is daylight now and he'd want to be alone…

He'd be on the roof. Well, I wasn't 100% sure, but that was what my instincts were telling me.

I went back to the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor, the roof. The doors opened. There he was, standing close to the edge.

"Dimitri!" What the hell? He looked suicidal standing so close to the edge of the rooftop. He turned to me and walked towards me, away from the edge. Phew, that was close.

"Roza, you've found me." He looked oddly happy to see me.

"What the hell are you doing up here?" I partly knew the reason, but I wasn't fully sure.

"I'm here, to think. The sun is calming." He looked up at the sun, then back at me.

"So what have you thought about eh? Are you going to stop this idiotic childish fight?" But he didn't answer me. He grabbed me and pulled me towards him, his lips meeting mine with full force. I pushed him away and wiped my mouth, disgusted, with my sleeve.

"Don't you see Rose? If I can't win you back that way, I just have to take out the competition."

"You think that will win back my heart?!?!" I was feeling hysterical.

"You never know until you try."

"Dimitri, this so isn't you!"

"Isn't it?" He was starting to scare me, I started to walk backwards.

"Rose, like I said before, I'll do whatever it takes to get you back."

"No Dimitri. Killing Adrian is not the answer!"

"Rose, look inside of you, is he really what you want?" Oh god, I thought so, no, yes, wait what?

"I…" I was at a loss for words.

"Roza…" He was holding me now… how did he get so close so fast? I didn't even notice him. His warmth added to the warmth that I was feeling from the sun. Oh God, being this close to Dimitri again, just brought back all the memories. Like the night in the cabin… Oh God, oh God, oh God. He was moving his head closer to mine…

He looked into my eyes, into my soul.

A song I heard on the radio one time just popped up in my head.

_You make me feel out of my element  
Like I'm walkin' on broken glass  
Like my worlds spinnin' in slow motion  
And you're movin' too fast_

_Were you right, was I wrong  
Were you weak, was I strong, yeah  
Both of us broken  
Caught in a moment  
We lived and we loved  
And we hurt and we joked, yeah  
But the planets all aligned  
When you looked into my eyes  
And just like that  
The chemicals react  
The chemicals react_

_You make me feel out of my element  
Like I'm drifting out to the sea  
Like the tides pullin' me in deeper  
Makin' it harder to breathe_

_We cannot deny, how we feel inside  
We cannot deny_

_Were you right, was I wrong  
Were you weak, was I strong, yeah  
Both of us broken  
Caught in a moment  
We lived and we loved  
And we hurt and we joked, yeah  
But the planets all aligned  
When you looked into my eyes  
And just like that  
The chemicals react  
The chemicals react_

_Kaleidoscope of colors  
Turning hopes on fire, sun is burning  
Shining down on both of us  
Don't let us lose it (don't let us lose it...)_

_Were you right, was I wrong  
Were you weak, was I strong, yeah  
Both of us broken  
Caught in a moment  
We lived and we loved  
And we hurt and we joked, yeah_

_We lived  
We loved  
We hurt  
We joked  
We're right  
We're wrong  
We're weak  
We're strong  
We lived to love_

_But the planets all aligned  
When you looked into my eyes  
And just like that  
Watch the chemicals react  
And just like that  
The chemicals react  
The chemicals react_

Then I remembered all the rejection and betrayal and, and, and….

I pushed him away.

"I can't!" I started running away from him, hearing him chasing me, very closely. I got to the elevator and frantically pressed the button to close the doors several times. He was heading towards me, with so much sorrow in his eyes.

The doors closed, just as he almost reached them. I pressed the button for my floor and sank to the ground. Tears were developing and when I realised, I quickly wiped them away with my sleeve. What almost happened?

The doors opened again and I quickly stood up and walked out. I needed to clear my head. Did I still… love Dimitri?

Maybe a good rest could help me think…

I opened the main door to Lissa's room and then the door to my room. I took a shower, relieving me of my tense muscles but stinging my injuries, then put on some clean clothes from my small closet. I flopped onto the bed, and was out like a light.

* * *

**I really hope that you liked it!!!**

**Feel free to review!!!**

**:D**


	14. The Fight

**Here's the 'changed' chapter!!!**

**Sorry i haven't updated in a while, i didn't really like where this was going, until i realised that i hadn't really been following my original plot!!!**

**So... uh... my bad! Sorry guys. :)**

**The beginning is pretty much the same, except for a couple of changes, so you might want to read the whole thing again just in case, and just to refresh your memory as well!!!**

**DISCLAIMER: Characters etc. belong to Richelle Mead. Except for this little story here.**

**-Deni**

* * *

"No, no… Adrian no! Dimitri… Aaaaaaah!!!"

I woke up, all sweaty and disoriented. What a nightmare. Dimitri and Adrian were fighting one on one, it was terrible watching them fight over me, just-

Oh shit!

I looked at the clock on my bedside table. It was almost midnight. The fight was going to start.

"Ah Hell!!!" I jumped out of bed and thrashed around in my small closet. Why didn't my alarm go off?

Well at least I had a good and well-needed rest. What happened on that rooftop really just baffled me. Maybe… I was only acting that way because of exhaustion… Yeah, I was exhausted… which caused me to be a bit… loopy… at least I hoped that was true.

I finally settled with well, my normal clothing, kinda like a Guardian uniform. A tank top, sweat pants and my big duster. I grabbed my stake, which I hopefully wouldn't need to use and put it in my pocket. All set.

I ran out of my room and out of Lissa's room. She was still in the clinic; I wondered when she would be let out. Did the others know about this 'fight'?

I don't think there will be many spectators; it'll just be me, and the two idiots. Perfect.

The East garden was basically a gigantic green house and it was isolated from the rest of the Royal Court. The chances of an audience were definitely low.

I locked the door and ran to the elevator. I got in and pressed the button for the main lobby. God, could it be any slower!

The doors opened and I ran out as fast as I could…

"Whoa!" I crashed into someone and fell to the ground. I looked up at my obstacle…

"Rose!" Great. It was my mother. What the hell was she still doing here anyway?

"Not a good time Janine." I stood up rubbing at my sore head.

"You will refer to me as your Mother do you understand? You shouldn't be running around like that Rose." She gave me the 'Evil eye'.

"Pfft… whatever…" I tried to push past her, but she grabbed my arm and spun me around, fast and her grip was tight.

"Listen to me young lady. You better look at yourself and pick up the pieces someday because I won't do that for you!"

"I never said that you needed to. You've hardly done anything for me anyway." I said, trying to sound un-affected by her comment and managing to be cold about it. Then, she slapped me! I rubbed my cheek and turned away from her again.

"This isn't finished!" She called out to me.

I hated her. If there was any time that I was really sure about my feelings towards her, it was now. I hated her.

I continued my way outside and walked along the paved pathway towards my destination. What did I expect? I wasn't really sure. The cold woke me up even more so I felt refreshed. At least the air was something nice to get you a bit perked up from what already seemed like a lousy day.

There it was. The greenhouse otherwise known as the East garden was in front of me. It was so huge and I'd been here once before, admiring some flowers with Lissa and… Dimitri…

Wait. I could hear more noise than I would have expected coming from inside. I opened the huge main doors of the greenhouse and the noise grew louder, and louder. There was a crowd in here. What the hell?

Just great.

There were rows of flowers in front of me, so I couldn't really see where the commotion was coming from. I ran around, trying to get closer to all the noise. Then I saw them. They were in the huge square shaped space in the centre of the green house where people could rest if they wanted. There were even a few benches and small fountains outlining the edges. The space was huge, and apparently big enough for this darn fight.

"Hey!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. The crowd turned to me.

"Hey dude, it's her!" One male said.

"Oh crap, she's here." His friend replied to him.

"The bitch that started this!" One female shouted.

"I'm no bitch! I'm here to stop this fight before it gets out of hand!" I marched towards them and pushed through the crowd. I'm pretty sure I got a few elbow and knee jabs. Jeez, the nerve of some people.

Dimitri and Adrian were in the centre of the space that the crowd had gathered around. They were circling each other.

Then out of nowhere, some idiot separated himself from the crowd and spoke directly at them.

"I don't get why you idiots are fighting over her. She's easy." Who of course, but Jesse could think that. Adrian looked at me with relief, ignoring Jesse's stupid comment, he was glad I was here.

"Go fuck yourself Jesse." I suggested threateningly.

"Seriously, I don't know why they're going to so much trouble just to win you over! Everyone knows that you're a slut. You've been one ever since I met you." I had it with him. I punched him in the face and he fell back with the crowd catching him. I'm pretty sure that I heard a few girls gasp. He had groupies now?

I was going in for another knuckle sandwich but someone strong pulled me back.

"Quit it!" I fought as hard as I could, but it just wasn't working. I sighed and calmed down, then finally, my captor let go of me. Ha-ha what a fool. But then a certain voice caught my attention.

"Rose, we don't want _another_ fight happening today." Adrian smiled at me jokingly, but I could see that he really meant it. _He_ was worried about me, even though _he_ was the one about to meet his maker.

"You know you can't beat Dimitri!" I shouted at him, trying to get some sense into that thick skull of his.

"Awww… so little faith in me?" He tried to give me puppy dog eyes.

"Yeah… you're going to get yourself killed Adrian! Please!" The eyes didn't work on me.

"I'm stronger than you think Rose." He sounded, all of a sudden, more man-like.

"But you're just a Moroi…" That was a bit biased from me…

"But, I have you." He ignored my prejudice and replied with something… less than logical.

"What?" Ok, I seriously didn't get him right now.

"You make me feel… stronger, like I can do anything. Please just stay out of this."

"No I won't! I'm not going to let you get killed!"

"Please Rose, move aside."

"Why Adrian, why?" Tears were filling my eyes.

"I need to prove something." What the hell? How does that have anything to do with violence? Couldn't he prove something to me verbally?

"So you're just here to prove something?!?!" He pushed me aside.

"Adrian!" I was about to get closer but the crowd pulled me back.

"Let go!!!" I shouted, thrashing about.

"No! We came here to see a fight!" My restrainers replied.

"Who told you about this?"

"Adrian. He was spreading it around to the Royals except for Queen Tatiana." One brave soul dared to answer. He invited them?!?! I sighed. Well I guess it did make sense that he wanted to 'spread the word' to 'help his ego'. He was a Royal, and… he was Adrian.

"Let me go!" I pulled and thrashed around, but it was no use.

But then I heard something and my head snapped up. The fight was beginning. Crap!

Dimitri had thrown a punch at Adrian, who stumbled back but continued to circle Dimitri. Why wasn't he going for it? His cheek was red and I was getting more worried by the second.

Dimitri struck again, this time kicking Adrian hard in the stomach. I was too shocked to fight against my restrains anymore… in fact; it was like I was paralysed by shock… or even by fear.

Adrian fell to the ground on all fours and was struggling to breathe. Something appeared to be stuck in his throat and he was gasping like a fish out of water. Dimitri had hit him way hard… and he was just… watching Adrian in pain… _he looked amused. _My heart squeezed.

This wasn't my Dimitri. There was something wrong with him.

Adrian started coughing savagely and a red coloured liquid splattered out of his mouth. That hit me and took me out of my strange daze.

"Adrian! You're coughing up blood! Please get out of here while you still can!" I tried to pull away from my restrainers again but… it didn't work. I felt hopeless. I scoffed at myself. _The_ Rose Hathaway felt hopeless. It's a sign of the apocalypse.

What was remarkable and definitely made my eyes bulge out of my head was that Adrian got up and paced around Dimitri once more. I guess the man was just full of surprises, seemed as though he was stronger than I thought. But that didn't help the situation, especially when he was fighting a badass god. Why didn't he just stay on the ground? Dimitri wasn't attacking him when he was! He'd get himself killed!

My vision was getting blurry as I couldn't control my feelings anymore. Adrian was getting hurt, _because of me._ This was all my fault.

Dimitri punched Adrian in the jaw and he fell back into the crowd, next to me. I got a clearer look at his face as I quickly wiped away my tears with the back of my sleeve. He had blood, drying up fast, around his mouth and he looked exhausted and of course, in pain. He looked me in the eyes and mouthed an 'I love you'. My heart squeezed again. Then the crowd threw him back into the lion's den, Dimitri being the lion, before I could mouth an 'I love you too' back.

Adrian was thrown back in hard, he stumbled and almost fell. It was like he was really drunk and he couldn't walk properly, but he wasn't… or was he? If he was drunk, then things would make a whole lot more sense… which is kinda funny since when someone is drunk, it's normally the other way round, but now wasn't the time for any funny business.

"Dimitri stop!" He didn't listen to me; he was too focused on Adrian… who was still stumbling around like he was drunk. Dimitri ran up to Adrian and punched him again and in the face, hard. Adrian fell onto his back and I saw his face again. His eyes were closed and he was moaning in pain. Blood was coming out of his nose now too.

"Adrian please get up!" I shouted and he looked at me quickly and smiled weakly. Who gets beaten and then smiles? Oh God. What in the world was he trying to prove? That he was a moron?

Dimitri leaned above Adrian on his knees and was about to 'go in for the kill'.

All the while that the fight was proceeding, the crowd around me was chanting 'Fight, fight, fight-' on and on… I couldn't take it much longer.

"Let go you bastard!!!" I fought hard again without thinking. All I knew at that very moment was that I needed to get out of their grip, to save Adrian.

My face felt hot, and wet. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. There was… so much blood. So much of Adrian's blood….

"Dimitri!!!" I screamed. Adrian looked close to death, ok maybe I was over-reacting, maybe not, but my heart was pounding out of my chest and I even felt light-headed. Adrian just stared straight into Dimitri's eyes while Dimitri lifted an arm, but didn't go in Adrian's direction. I looked at him in confusion until I realised where his hand was going. His hand went into a pocket in his duster and he pulled out… a stake.

Oh my God, he was really going to do it.

"Dimitri please don't do this!!!" I screamed, tears had formed again and I couldn't see clearly. But I did hear something.

"Dimitri. Stop." Adrian's voice was weak. He was using compulsion.

* * *

**Adrian's not dead... yet. ;) lol jk**

**We'll see... :P**

**I hope you liked the changes!**

**Tell me if you did in a review! Except you can't really review from this chapter again, if you already have, so give me a review of this from the next chapter! :)**


	15. Craziness

**It feels like years since i've updated... o_O**

**And i'm SORRY with all my heart for making you wait THIS long for me to write this chapter!!! :'(**

**School had just been... *shivers* making things more complicated and i was too busy to continue any of my fanfics. **

**I am deeply sorry.**

**But, im back. **

**And i swear, at least by the end of 2010, i'll have at least 2 fanfics finished! xD**

**Thankyou for reading my fanfics and i love you all. **

**DISCLAIMER: Characters etc. belong to Richelle Mead. Except for this little story here.**

**-Deni**

* * *

Dimitri froze and his stake dropped onto the ground from his hand. Adrian slowly lifted himself up from the ground. He was panting and was bending over, looking like he was about to barf. His hands were on his knees, and the crowd had stopped chanting.

"What? Damn. I wanted to see more blood." Some idiot spoke, while the crowd began murmuring things, sounding disappointed. I ignored them and ran to Adrian.

"You!" I however, had no sympathy for him, he wanted something to prove? That's what this was all about? He got into a fight, just to prove something, when he could've stopped the whole thing?! I wasn't just angry, I was furious.

"What the hell was this about when you could've stopped everything before it happened?!?!" He gave me a sad look for a few seconds, but then struggled to stand up straight. I caught hold of his arm and tried to hold him up.

"Rose, I needed you to see something…" He was finding it hard to breathe and talking didn't help.

"Adrian, we need to get you to the clinic-"

"No Rose, listen to me. Dimitri has turned into-"

I didn't hear what he was about to say. Adrian was getting weaker by the second. His compulsion over Dimitri had worn off.

The next thing I knew was that Dimitri had come and punched Adrian hard in the side of his head. Adrian went down. Head first, out of my grip.

"No!" I cried trying to catch Adrian before his head hit the cemented ground. Dimitri was too fast. He pushed me, hard, from the middle of my chest, and I went literally flying about five metres away.

I heard the crowd gasp, amused.

Then I heard a thud. But it wasn't from me. Adrian had hit the ground. Adrian's _head_ had hit the ground.

Dimitri had changed. I wasn't sure how, but he had. There was definitely something wrong. Dimitri would've never hurt me. And he would've never hurt a Moroi, especially a Royal Moroi.

When I hit the ground, landing on my back, I felt pain spread through my body like electricity. I tried to get up and managed to sit on my elbows. I felt weak, but all I cared about was Adrian. He _had_ to be ok.

Adrian's body wasn't moving at all. Dimitri was staring at him, as was everyone else gathered around, and didn't look away for one moment. Was Adrian… no I couldn't even think it… was he…?

I started balling my eyes out, which awfully seemed like second nature now due to the recent events in my life. My vision was so blurry… that I was so lucky to even be able to see what happened next.

Adrian's hand twitched.

I didn't even realise that I was holding my breath until I felt myself relax a bit from seeing the miracle in front of me. He was still alive. For the moment.

I managed to get up, quite painfully and slowly, and I hobbled over to Dimitri. He continued to just stare at Adrian's body like he was under some sort of spell and couldn't take his eyes off of him. He used to look at me like he was under a spell... I didn't care though. The feelings that I had for Dimitri, what could've happened on that rooftop, were replaced by fury and hate. I pushed Dimitri away from Adrian as hard as I could, using all the strength I had left. Not caring to see if it worked or not, I knelt by Adrian's body and stroked his right cheek with my hand.

"Adrian?" I choked out. My voice was hoarse and it felt like I had a hairball stuck in my throat. He moaned weakly and his eyes were fluttering, trying to open.

"Adrian! It's ok… it's ok… we'll find… I'll get you to the clinic." My hand which was on his face started to shake from the sight in front of me. He was bleeding from his nose and mouth. His face was covered in blood and was bruised all over, the side of his head which had hit the ground, left blood on the floor.

My hand was grabbed and pulled away from Adrian's cheek. The force was so fast that it practically pulled me up to stand. The grip was very tight and it was definitely leaving a bruise. Who else to grip me that hard other than my mentor?

"This is all your fault!" I screamed at him and it was like I couldn't control my own body. Pure rage had taken over like the time the craziness from spirit that I had taken away from Lissa had. He looked at me, in a weird way, somehow affectionate but nervous, yet… lost.

The crowd had died down after seeing what happened to Adrian, but they were starting to build up again with their chants of 'Fight, fight, fight!' which continued and grew louder.

Their chanting gave me an idea.

Everything happened so fast that I just didn't know what was happening. One second I was standing in front of Dimitri, looking him in the eyes, the next I was trying to scratch them out. He of course dodged but I did get in a few hits while I faintly heard him say 'Please Rose, stop!' but of course… I _just_ heard him. I couldn't stop myself.

Then out of nowhere, fire had blazed between Dimitri and me burning the both of us slightly. I yelped and stumbled backwards. I looked over to where the fire had seemed to come from.

"Rose! What's going on?" Christian ran up to me and a tall figure that I didn't recognise followed closely behind him.

"What does it look like? But you didn't have to bloody burn me!" I touched the small burn on my face. It was still burning underneath the surface.

"You were about to rip his head off!" He screamed, just as shocked as I was. I looked over at Dimitri, and well, he didn't look too good. _He_ had blood running from his nose now and he looked as though he was in pain, a bit. He with his 'Guardian' attitude and that mask of his was of course hiding just how much pain I had caused him.

"He deserves it."

"What? Why? Why would anyone deserve that?" Christian was looking at me like I was crazy. I probably was.

"Have you seen Adrian?"

"Adrian?" He looked around and finally saw him. His mouth fell wide open.

Just then, a few other people were pushing through the crowd to get to us. They all gasped in horror and shock. It was Mia, Eddie and… Lissa!

"Lissa! You're out of the clinic?!?!" I ran to her, clumsily. I still felt like crap.

"Oh my God Rose! But yes, I'm out… Are you ok?!?"

"Yeah... how did you find us?" Ok, I lied that I was ok, my body hurt, but I didn't want to worry her.

"Hey! What happened to the fight?!?" Someone rude interrupted our conversation. I looked at the still surrounding crowd.

"Go back to your buildings! The fight is over!" My voice rang along the walls. I was shocked to hear it myself. I sounded… different. But then the greenhouse just filled with noises of disappointment and pissed off people that began to leave.

"I'll explain later. We need to get Adrian to the clinic, but maybe I could heal him." Lissa suggested, but no, I couldn't let her, she would probably still be weak and the strength she regained might just be drained again.

"No. You're still weak," I looked to Christian and the unknown cute guy next to him. Wait, cute guy? I blinked a few times. What was I thinking? It was not the time to be thinking about that sort of 'thing', my love life was already messed up.

"Christian, get Adrian to the clinic, now." My tone was harsh, but who could blame me? I hoped my friends would understand.

Christian and the cute, uh, I mean, random guy ran to Adrian's side and picked him up together and started to carry him towards the exit by his arms, so Adrian was standing up, well kinda, he was trying to walk, but failed and ended up kind of dragging his feet along. Lissa gave me a worried look and followed them. I looked around the greenhouse, most of the crowd had left, but there was one person left, staring at me. I almost forgot about him.

"Rose…" He started walking towards me. My eyes were frantically looking for his stake as he had dropped it on the ground earlier. If anything, I couldn't let him have it back. I picked it up, and ran up to him, holding it at his neck.

"Dimitri. Leave, before I finish what I started." It was difficult to look him in the eyes, but I did, and I couldn't believe what I saw.

His eyes, flashed green for a slight second.

But how was that possible? It must've been a trick of the light… eyes tinged green? That's just crazy. Yes Rose, you must be going crazy from all the craziness from today. That had to be it.

I shrugged it off and lowered his stake from his neck and turned away from him. I didn't bother to see if he was leaving or not, but I followed Lissa and the others out. I wouldn't return his stake to him, but… what was I going to do with it? Well, I guess it would be interesting having two stakes but, I had to give it back sometime. Bummer…

I sped up my pace to get to Christian and the random guy. We were out of the East garden and were hurrying along down a sidewalk leading to the clinic. Adrian had passed out.

"He's still breathing." Christian said, still focused on Adrian. The two "men" carrying him were still letting Adrian drag his feet along.

"You know, you could lift him up higher so that his feet don't get injured too…" I gave Christian a 'What the hell are you doing?!' look.

"Oh, right." Christian and the random guy lifted him up higher and I rolled my eyes.

Lissa walked next to me and I looked at her. She definitely looked better, but to be safe, I couldn't let her do anything silly.

"Rose, you're hurt." She started to reach for my face, but I caught her hand.

"No. You're still too weak. I can't let you do that for now. I'll just get Dr Olendzki to do something for me." I gave her a, what I hoped to be, an assuring smile and let go of her hand.

"Alright then… " Lissa sighed.

"By the way… Lissa, who's that guy with Christian? I don't think I've ever seen him in the Royal Court." I wanted to change the topic, besides, I was really wondering where this random guy came from, and I also wanted to stop referring to him in my mind as 'the random guy'.

"Oh yeah… sorry, I forgot to introduce him to you! Well he's Christian's new Guardian. He was assigned to him today."

"Christian's new Guardian?!?!" I stopped in my steps. Lissa stopped too, and laughed, half-heartedly.

"Don't be so surprised Rose. Sure, Christian has an attitude that screams 'I don't need Guardians because I'm a tough guy', but nevertheless, he's a Moroi, that needs Guardians. Well, at least for now, he finally has one. His name is Aidan Adams."

"Oh." I started walking again, as did she.

"I'll explain more later." She smiled, but it faded away. We finally reached the clinic.

Christian and Aidan burst through the doors of the clinic and Dr Olendzki's jaw dropped when she saw Adrian.

"What happened? Hurry, bring him into the emergency room!" Dr Olendzki ran to Adrian while two other nurses wheeled a bed to him. Christian and Aidan carefully laid Adrian onto the bed.

"It's a long story." I replied to Dr Olendzki, trying to sound calm, even though underneath everything, I was shaking with fear. Fear for Adrian.

"Are the wards back up?" I asked Dr Olendzki. She looked at me with concern, and nodded. At least that was one problem fixed.

Dr Olendzki and the nurses rushed into the Emergency room, wheeling Adrian carefully, but quickly. We weren't allowed to go in. Damn the clinic policies.

"Ugh…" I walked over to one of the silver chairs lining the wall and sat down on the same chair as yesterday. Was there ever a week where I wasn't in the clinic? I looked around and Lissa was walking towards me. Christian and Aidan had left earlier, without a word, but it didn't seem to bother Lissa.

My eyes wandered to the front desk in the waiting room. I looked at the calendar. My eyes almost bulged out of my head. I scoffed and I could feel tears forming.

It was my birthday. Whoopee.

My friends had forgotten. _I_ had forgotten. My birthday had been forgotten. I definitely felt like, crap.

"Rose, I'm sure he'll be ok." Lissa startled me out of my thoughts and sat down in the chair next to me.

"God, I hope so." How could she forget? She was my best friend…

"Rose, I finally did it." What did she do? Make me a birthday present? Ha, I wish… _They all forgot._

"Did what?"

"It was how I knew where you were. I was pulled into your head through the bond. When I knew what was going on, I called Christian and Aidan and told them that we had to get to the East garden, but not why. Good thing that I was discharged from the clinic today."

"OMG Lissa!" I smiled, but it felt weird, like my face had never done it before. I forgot about the fact that it was my birthday for a second; in fact, this was enough to be my present from her. Lissa finally did it, I felt oddly proud. I carefully pulled her into a hug, making sure that I didn't hurt her wound.

"Rose. I know about you and Adrian."

"Oh…" I pulled away from her and slumped in my chair.

"No! I'm ok with it. When I was pulled in your head, it was when the fight had started… and the pain you felt when Adrian was getting hurt… I knew that it was because you love him. You love him, don't you?" I nodded slowly in reply.

"Awww… Rose, it's ok. He'll be ok." She pulled me into a hug this time and I started to cry into her shoulder.

"It's ok, let it out. What you were holding in during the fight, let it all out. It's better if you do." Lissa's voice was soothing, but I cried harder into her shoulder. What if Adrian wasn't ok? What if? What if?!

"Rose! What are you doing? I knew you were very immature, but I didn't think that you would go as far as crying like a baby in public!" Janine burst through the door like she was 'all that'. I sat up and wiped my eyes with my sleeve. I gave a quick smile to Lissa before I faced the bitch that just came in.

"Why are you here?" I slowly walked towards her, staring her down, well trying to anyway.

"Rose, I've heard some rumours floating around, and I don't like the sound of them."

"What are they, mother?" I was so venomous in my speech that I could've been a snake. I really didn't want to see her right now. I didn't even get a 'Happy Birthday'. Hell, _my own mother_ forgot the day that she gave birth to me.

"You've been with Adrian Ivashkov."

"So? What's it to you?" I crossed my arms. I wished she would mind her own business.

"I've warned you before about him." Her tone had become cold.

"They're just a bunch of rumours about his reputation that are false!" I couldn't believe all the rumours that people spread about him, some were slightly true, but most were just plain ridiculous. I couldn't even imagine the rumours being spread after the fight between him and Dimitri. Oh nuts, the old hag might find out. And she'll blame me for the injury of her nephew.

"Well even if they are, you still can't see him!" Janine started to get hysterical.

"Why? Just because you didn't get your happy ending, doesn't mean I can't get mine!" I didn't see why she was so worked up about this. Ha! Imagine if she knew about my history with Dimitri.

"It's because you're related!" She grabbed me by the shoulders and shouted at me.

I completely froze. What a great birthday I was having.

* * *

**I really hope that you liked it and that the wait was worth it. Maybe it wasn't, but HEY at least this chapter is up! :)**

**I'll update once i get 210 reviews, to kinda celebrate the new year (???).**

**Well, it's the closest decent number i can ask for, after all, asking for 2010 reviews from 193 reviews, is DEFINITELY too much. xD**

**Haha.**

**So, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! :D**

**Please review if you wan't the next chapter. :)**


	16. How could i forget?

**Hey guys, sorry i didn't really keep to my word of updating at '210 reviews'. It's just that while writing this chapter, i didn't really think that i was in character. **

**And so i didn't know if i should continue writing this... well not until i re-read VA.**

**I'm thinking that 'Twisted' is pretty OOC. **

**Honestly, i don't remember VA that much anymore, or how Rose is.**

**Maybe you guys, in a review, could remind me how awesome Rose is. It would be MUCH appreciated.**

**DISCLAIMER: Characters etc. belong to Richelle Mead. Except for this little story here.**

**-Deni**

* * *

"Rose?" Janine waved her hand in front of my eyes.

I felt like I had fallen into a deep pit of nothing.

Adrian and I were related.

How? How the hell how?!?

"You're lying!" I shouted at her.

"Rose. Your father is an Ivashkov."

"No… No! He can't be!" I was mostly saying it to myself.

"Rose-" I didn't hear what she said next, because the next thing I did, was run.

I wanted to run away, from everything.

"Rose!" Lissa shouted, but I ran out through the door of the clinic before anyone could catch me.

I just kept running, not sure where the hell I was going. The Royal Court was huge. I wanted to get out, but of course then, once out, I wouldn't really know where to go.

"Just run, keep running." I told myself. The times Dimitri had made me run were really paying off right now.

As I ran, I felt the night air whip around my face and my hair. My face felt cold, I hadn't noticed before since I was so focused on running, that I was actually crying. Adrian and I were somehow related. I just couldn't bring myself to believe it.

My father.

He was the answer.

Surely he could clear things up for me… if only I could find him.

Yes. I had to find my father and ask him if he was really an Ivashkov… Janine probably wouldn't know where he'd be anyway.

But what if I just asked Adrian?

But if he already knew… he was ok with incest?

I was getting so confused and just running blindly I was sure that I was going to run into something.

And sure enough a big hunk of something, or rather someone appeared in front of me.

"Rose!" That someone, who I heard to be male but didn't really recognise, stopped me by the shoulders. I finally looked up at him.

"Aidan?"

"Yep, that's me." He gave a little smile, but it was mostly filled with sympathy. I shook his arms off me. He look startled but was ok with it, well I guess so, since he didn't touch me anymore than that.

"How did you find me?"

"Well to be honest… it wasn't too hard. I mean, all I had to do was look out for a crazy hot girl running around like a maniac." He tried to joke, and winked. Was he hitting on me at a time like this?

I guess he must've read my mind or most likely just recognised the look on my face, because he immediately beamed understanding and apologised.

"It's alright… don't worry about it…" I said. I looked at our surroundings. Funnily enough, I actually hadn't gotten too far from the clinic… I was only round the corner… must've been running in circles. Ah, crap.

"So… uh… why were you running?" We started to walk, I wasn't paying attention to where, but walking seemed to calm me down… a bit.

"Oh… just… family stuff…" Which was true but I didn't want to explain anymore to him.

"I see. I'm presuming that you don't want to get into it?" He cocked an eyebrow at me, an expression that was pretty cute on his gentle face.

Whoa Rose.

'Just because Adrian could be related to you, does not mean that you can start looking at other guys!' I mentally scolded myself.

I nodded to him in reply.

"Yeah ok, that's fine." He had no sarcasm. Huh, seemed as though this guy was pretty smart…

I finally got a better look at him. This guy was pretty tall, not 'Dimitri tall' but tall enough. He had these grey, mysterious eyes… they were in a way… hypnotising. He had brownish-reddish hair that reminded me of Mason, but was darker.

Mason.

Oh my God.

I was not getting into this again. It would hurt too much, and probably make me break down. For good.

He was a guy who died for me, or well, _because_ of me.

I couldn't let Adrian be the second guy to do that.

"We're here." There was a smile in his voice, but I was confused, what was he talking about?

"Surprise!" I finally looked up at the group of people in front of me who had just shouted. It was none other than Lissa, Christian, Eddie and Mia. We were in the smallest ballroom in the Royal Court. Heck, I must've really not paid any attention at all to my surroundings as we walked here… because we probably had to enter through a few doors. Jeesh. A Strigoi could've jumped on me without me noticing.

I looked around again. I finally realised what this was. It was a surprise birthday party. So… they hadn't forgotten, well I guess that was nice… but I still couldn't help feeling like crap.

The room was actually pretty big, even though it was considered the 'smallest' of the ballrooms. There was food and cake set out on a small table near one of the walls. Then there were smaller tables next to it.

I looked at my friends again. They all looked happy, but I could see the sorry they felt for me in their eyes. It felt strange, and angered me a bit.

"Rose, you've been through a lot today. We planned this after I was discharged… and we decided to still go through with it even after all the… events… in a bid to cheer you up." Lissa came up to me and hugged me tight.

Even if this was like a 'Sympathy party' or whatever you'd like to call it, it was a party planned by my friends, for my benefit, and so I couldn't help but indeed be a bit cheered up, well happier than I was earlier.

She let go of me and I looked at the rest of them and gave them a smile.

"Thanks guys, this really means a lot." It did. Really.

I focused my attention on the food. I hadn't eaten all day… I was starving!

I heard a chuckle; I whipped around to glare at my victim.

It was Aidan.

"I'm sorry but the look on your face when you looked at the food was adorable…" He was still chuckling.

"Ok, since I'm too hungry to have a full conversation with you, I'll let you off. Oh and also because it's my birthday… I don't want to get into any… _more_ fights." Ok, what I had just said kinda made me feel worse but I tried to push it aside and get some food.

"Oh goodie, besides you'd probably take me down in less than 5 seconds." He gave me a nice smile and went to talk to Eddie. He _really _was smart.

"Hey Rose…" I was stacking my plate with biscuits and all sorts of junk that my body craved, when Mia came to my side, looking very apologetic.

"I'm so sorry about Adrian." She really looked sincere, and was even on the verge of tears.

"Hey… it's ok. He'll get better…" It felt like I was re-assuring myself more than her… bringing him up made me feel like crap again.

"It's my birthday, please don't look sad right now, and try to be happy, well at least look happy, for me." She nodded in reply and I nodded my thanks.

Even if I wasn't happy, maybe my friends looking happy would have an effect on me.

I finished my food a while ago and found myself talking to Christian about Aidan. Aidan actually was quite clever, as Christian stated, and he liked him around, which was good.

Christian actually liked having a guardian… Was this a sign of the apocalypse? Heck, if it was… hallelujah. My life would probably be less stressful if it was over. But then of course, I wouldn't know what would happen to my spirit if I ever died… if I ever would see Adrian again.

No. I wouldn't let myself die. For Adrian's sake.

"Ready for the cake?" Eddie said to me as he put a nice looking chocolate cake in front of my plate on the table.

I gave him a smile and they started singing 'Happy Birthday', surprisingly, quite well. Except for Christian, he was pretty out of tune. I laughed and blew out the candles. I was 19 today. My only wish was for Adrian. He had to get better.

We all finished our cake. I couldn't help but feel guilty that Adrian couldn't be there with us.

"Ok everyone. Since this is a ballroom, let's dance! Let loose of some of the tension that we've all been feeling recently! Just let your body flow to the music and forget about all the troubles you have!" Lissa shouted to the rest of us. But what she said, seemed well, easier said than done.

Eddie found some music and put it in the CD player near the stage which had huge speakers connected to it. Slow music…. Great.

Mia dimmed the lights as well, and turned on the spotlights… and even a clichéd disco ball.

Christian paired up with Lissa, Mia with Eddie, and that left me with Aidan.

The ballroom looked pretty formal, but we looked anything but, my friends dressed casually, which made me feel better about my dirty 'guardian uniform'.

"Wanna dance?" Aidan reached a hand out to me.

"Um…"

"Come on, it's your birthday." He flashed me that same smile that I thought was cute.

"Alright then."

He took us to the dance floor with the rest of my friends and we started slow dancing, one hand on his shoulder and the other holding his hand. Ok, since I was a guardian, you'd think that I'd be pretty co-ordinated, to well, you know, fight, but dancing was a whole other thing. You see, during balls, which I had attended many times, all I'd done was watch from the sidelines, never actually really… danced… so it was awkward.

"Ouch!" Aidan yelped.

"Oh crap I stepped on your foot!" I gasped. He laughed.

"It's all good. You haven't broken any part of me… yet." He grinned.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well… say if we got into a little… duel…" He had a playful look in his eyes.

"Is that a challenge?" Ha-ha, this guy was smart _and _cheeky.

"Well… I've heard a few stories about you Rose Hathaway, and so I'd definitely like to see who the better Guardian was. After all, I was assigned to Christian Ozera, who practically no-one wanted to protect." He was pretty good at dancing too, I let him lead, which was probably the best thing to do.

"Good point. Why did you accept to guard Christian then?"

"I like challenges. Besides, if he really did turn Strigoi, I'd bet that I could take him on easily."

"Ha-ha, so you're smart, cheeky, good at dancing and brave?"

"Wow, you know all this only after knowing me for less than a day." He winked at me and made me lean back, supporting me with one arm and then lifted me back up again. The disco ball seemed to flash a light at his eyes for a brief second as he did that awesome dance move.

His eyes appeared green.

Emerald green.

Oh crap, Adrian!

I pulled myself abruptly from Aidan's arms.

"I'm sorry but… I have to go." I looked for the exit. Shit! What had I just done? I slow danced with a guy and felt… well... happy about it… and he wasn't Adrian. How did i even forget about Adrian?

"Why?" He sounded disappointed, but concerned. Everyone else stopped dancing and looked at me. I guess there's nothing like a pang of guilt to knock all the joy out of you.

"Thanks guys, this was really nice, but… I have to go check on Adrian. He could be out of the emergency room by now." I said sadly to them. They understood and nodded. God I loved my friends.

"Continue the party without me! You guys deserve it!" And with that I was off to check on Adrian… what I should've done earlier… Heck I shouldn't even have left him!

Ugh!

Stupid, stupid, Rose!

I ran as hard as I could to get back to the clinic. I burst through the doors and ran straight into Dr Olendzki, scaring the crap out of her.

"How's Adrian? Is he ok? Is he… alive?!?!" I screamed at her. I studied her then, trying to work out what she was thinking. She didn't look happy. Well, that was expected since I probably just scared her to death, but… she just didn't look happy… due to something else.

"Rose… I'm sorry to say… but… I have some bad news."

* * *

**I know that since this is a fanfiction i could change the characters a bit, but with this, and 'Lost Soul', i'd like to keep them as much in character as i can.**

**It would help me learn how to be a better writer., because i find that sometimes i might write too much like 'myself'.**

**I really need feedback guys, do you think this is getting OOC?**


	17. Tragedy strikes

**Sorry for the LOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNGG wait.**

**I hope this chapter, though short, is enjoyable. :)**

**Well, i had to post _something_, and i actually finally know WHERE i'm heading with this now!**

**After 17 chapters and several uber long periods inbetween... LOL**

**Sorry guys! **

**DISCLAIMER: Characters etc. belong to Richelle Mead. Except for this little story here!**

**-Deni**

* * *

"You. Have. Bad. News?" Out of all the crap I went through, you'd think that it'd get better but no.

"Adrian's brain was swelling up and pushing against his skull from the impact of the uh..-"

"-fight. He was in a fight." I finished for her.

"Well, to help him heal, I had to put him in an induced coma."

"An induced coma?" I screamed.

"Now, now, Rose. Please stay calm. It's only for a while, to see if his brain will heal itself."

"How long… is a while?"

"A couple of days… to maybe a couple of weeks."

"Weeks?"

"I'm not sure of the exact time period yet, but just know that it's not too serious. We'd just like to keep him for a bit longer, after he's recovered to run some tests on him."

"Tests? What kind of tests? What _else_ is wrong with him?"

"It's possible, that he will lose some of his memory when he wakes up."

_Not the memories of us. Please. No._

"Is there anything else you can do?"

"I'm sorry Rose, but that's all I can manage. After the Strigoi attack here… supplies are running low and facilities are more occupied."

"Which room is he in?"

"The first one down the left side of the corridor," she pointed to where she was talking about.

I nodded my thanks and followed her directions.

I hesitated, for a slight moment. Did I want to see Adrian? Of course, I _had _to. But did I want to see him… in a coma?

I bit my lip, a bit too hard, drawing blood, and took a deep breath, as I stopped at the front of the door that lead into Adrian's room.

Dr Olendzki nodded and left my side.

I took one last deep breath and opened the door, ready, hopefully, for the sight that would probably, or undeniably break my heart.

And there he was. Adrian, all bandaged up, with tubes connected to him and beeping machines everywhere. I felt tears threaten me as I tried to stay calm.

"Adrian…" I sat in the chair next to his bed and took his hand. It was only slightly warm, "I'm so sorry for what happened. It – it was all my fault. I could've stopped you but…"

I squeezed his hand, just glad that there even _was _a pulse.

"You may be in a coma, but I've heard that people in comas can still hear so… please just listen, not just hear, what I have to say." I took another deep breath, still trying to hold back tears.

But what was the point? It wasn't like he was going to see me cry.

I let go of my resistance and was overcome by what I'd been bottling up.

"Adrian… Adrian…" I choked, "I know things between us have been hazy lately and well… I just hope you can understand what situation I'm in here… I… I think… no. I _know _I love you but… no matter how strange things get between me and Dimitri… I don't think I can ever forget what we used to have." I sniffled and squeezed his hand again.

"I'm sorry, but please just wake up soon. I know you will. And then… from there, I think we could sort this out. I think… eventually, I _will _get over Dimitri I just… I need you back here with me."

I stayed there for a while, maybe one or two hours, just staring at his motionless body. Time passed without me knowing and my guilty thoughts kept me occupied.

"Rose!" Lissa burst through the door making me jump from my seat, definitely not expecting someone barging in on one of Rose Hathaway's rare 'chick flick moments'.

"What's up Liss?" I said, suddenly remembering my probably puffy face, wiping my eyes with my arm.

"I've been looking all over for you!" Her eyes looked slightly teary and her voice was desperate and raggedy, trying to catch her breath.

"Dimitri's trying to kill himself!"

With that, I followed her like lightning, all the way from the clinic, we ran towards our building. I was careful not to bump into anyone as I easily got ahead of Lissa entering the lobby and surveying every point of the room, naively looking for a suicidal Dimitri Belikov.

"He's on the roof!" Lissa shouted as she finally caught up with me in a matter of seconds.

Of course. The roof.

It was around sunrise now, which probably explained Lissa's heavy breathing.

Dimitri loved watching sunrises.

I slammed the elevator's buttons and eagerly got in, Lissa in tow.

When the doors open, Dimitri was on that same ledge that I'd seen him just yesterday at around the same time. This elevator didn't particularly make any loud noises when the doors opened and a dhampir's hearing wouldn't necessarily pick up anything, but nevertheless, the Russian God sensed my presence.

"Rose." Dimitri spoke loud enough that I could hear him.

"Leave Lissa in the elevator. We need to talk alone."

I turned to Lissa reluctantly and she half-smiled already understanding. I stepped out the elevator and Lissa went back down with it.

"Dimitri, what are you –"

"Rose just stop. I need to talk and you need to hear me." He finally faced me and started walking towards where I stood, just in front of the elevator.

"Before you come to any conclusions based on my recent behaviour, just hear me out." He took a deep breath.

"Something's wrong with me Rose." I felt like making a witty reply, but stopped myself when the look in his eyes told me that he was finding it hard to get out his words.

"Ever since… ever since the Strigoi attack at St. Vladimir's, I… I haven't been in the right mind… I mean, I haven't had a clear head with solid solutions or answers to anything. And recently, I noticed that an emotion that keeps flaring up is… jealousy."

"It's jealousy Rose. I think…. I think Jealousy is controlling me, and I can't fight it."

"But Dimitri… you _can_. I know you can."

"Maybe… but with jealousy, it's linked to you. Actually, it's all about you and when I see you with Ivashkov… the emotion or… monster just takes me over." He sighed, unable to look into my eyes and instead stared at the sunrise below us. I hesitantly pulled his face back to me with my hand.

"You. Can. Fight. This."

"Not if you aren't by my side." His words may have touched me yesterday, but not this time. Not after what happened to Adrian.

"Dimka…" I knew the name affected him, especially when I called him that which was super rare.

"I can't be by your side. You have to understand that…. Things have changed and now… my heart belongs to someone else. I'm sorry but we can't be anything more than friends, or well guardian partners." My hand was still on his face.

His face that suddenly and boldly changed when I finished speaking.

He swiped my hand away and his eyes were suddenly full of rage. Gleaming.

With a tinge of green.

My eyes almost bulged out again. So I wasn't seeing things? His eyes _were _turning green-ish somehow?

"It's Ivashkov isn't it? You're screwing him and he's got you all wrapped around his finger!" Dimitri shouted, sending shivers through my body. Dimitri was furious and raging. Heck, he _was _rage.

"Dimitri! Just calm down and –"

"How can you expect me to calm down at a time like this? It's clear now. I see it all now. I see how it is. I'll never have you back with Ivashkov still in the picture. I should've finished him off when I had the chance!" His eyes were not just tinged green now – they _were _green, and a bold green, largely different from Adrian's eyes.

Adrian's eyes were beautiful… but Dimitri's… they were frightening.

"You don't mean that! Dimitri! Snap out of it!" He simply swore in Russian as a reply.

"Oh I do Roza. I _do _mean it. Now get out of my way. I'm going to finish off Ivashkov once and for all." He pushed me aside and pressed the button for the elevator. Offended, I pushed him back, away from the elevator.

"Rose. I'm going to kill Ivashkov, not you."

"Well kill _me _then! Because killing him is already like killing _me._"

Those words seemed to get through to him, through all his rage. I hoped slightly that he might change his mind, see that it was hurting me too… but even if he did still 'love' me, why _wouldn't_ he hurt me for breaking his heart if he had the chance?

"You're right." He said, looking into my eyes, and the green started to fade slightly, in and out from its bold texture in his eyes.

But luck wasn't on my side. His eyes quickly changed back to a solid bold green.

"If I'm going to kill you, I might as well just do it now. Seeing as you don't mind dying for him."

Before his words set in and my initial shock of his eyes wore out, he grabbed my neck and I struggled to get his hand off. He lifted me off the ground with one hand with ease and I kicked m legs at him, trying to distract him.

It wasn't working. It seemed as with fuelled emotions of jealousy and rage… Dimitri's strength had also been fuelled… but how in the hell how?

I could feel my throat closing up as I tried to stay conscious, still kicking at him and grabbing at his hand holding me, with my own hands. His grip was too strong. Slowly he began to walk, me being preoccupied with trying to stay alive, couldn't tell where. Until I finally looked down towards my feet and noticed that he was holding me off the edge of the rooftop.

If he let go now, I'd drop to my death.

Stars were dancing in front of my eyes as I felt my body get weaker and weaker. If there was a time I ever needed my badass-ness... it was definitely now.

"Ready to die Roza? You know, you forced me to do this." He smirked.

"Because, if I can't have you, no-one in this world can."

And he let go.

* * *

**I know, i know. I'm a horrible person leaving cliffhangers almost everywhere... xD**

**But... well with this cliffhanger... you can pretty much guess the ending right? Right?**

**Right? ;)**

**We'll see... 8)**

**But i shall only update when i get at least 10 reviews! :O**

**Because i don't know who reads this anymore, and if no-one is... then what's the point in me continuing?**

**o.o**


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